Carpe Diem
by btvscharmedgirl
Summary: Santana is well on her way to accepting who she is, when she is forced to invite Rachel Berry to her monthly sleepover. Causing two old friends to reunite after 24 years of estrangement, and new friendships to form.
1. Can't Say No

Carpe Diem

Summery: Santana is well on her way to accepting who she is, when she is forced to invite Rachel Berry to her monthly sleepover. Causing two old friends to reunite after 24 years of estrangement, and new friendships to form.

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><p>Chapter 1: Can't Say No<p>

Rachel was putting her Spanish book back into her locker, when she felt a soft tap on her shoulder. As she turned to see who it was, her hands flew up to protect her face from the inevitable slushy facial. It did not come. She peeked through a gap in between her arms, and was surprised to see Santana standing there, looking annoyed.

"Jeeze, chill dwarf. I'm not going to hurt you," Santana told Rachel, prompting the girl to lower her arms. "I just came to tell you to be at my house at five. We've got bizness to discuss ."

"I'm sorry Santana, but I feel that going to your house is a bad idea. We don't exactly like each other, and since we don't have any Glee assignment that we are supposed to be doing I don't see what business we could possibly have to discuss."

"Look Man-hands just be at my house at five," Santana said.

"And what if I don't show," Rachel asked challengingly, as she shut her locker door.

"Then I will come to your house and drag your ass back to mine. Simple as that."

"First off, I don't know where you get off ordering me anywhere, and secondly if you did come to my home I would call the police on you," Rachel pointed out.

Santana facial features visibly softened. She realized that in order to get the diva to come over to her house she would have to go with a nicer approach. Please come to my house tonight. I promise I won't hurt you." Rachel still looked hesitant, so she decided to at least tell her why she wants her to come over. "Look over my shoulder," she told Rachel.

Rachel was not sure why she was so surprised to see the Latina's best friend standing halfway down the hall, waiting anxiously. "She wants something from you, and I promised I would at least attempt to get it. If I go back to her and tell her, you won't even come over to my place to talk about it she is going to be devastated. Do you want to upset Britt?"

She was playing dirty with that last bit, but it was the truth. Brittany had gotten her hopes up, and if she did not get her way, she was going to be devastated. That was the last thing she wanted to see.

"No. I do not want to see her upset," Rachel said. I wish no ill will on anyone let alone Brittany, but I do not see why we can't discuss whatever it is here."

"Because it's not something I want to talk about at school," Santana replied.

Rachel looked hesitant for a minute as she weighed the pros and cons that come with her going to Santana's house. In her mind, there was only one potential pro in this situation. The slim possibility that Brittany wants to start a friendship with her. This single pro outweighed the several, some potentially violent, cons.

"Alright, Santana. You have made a convincing argument. I will be at your at five o'clock, promptly," Rachel agreed.

"I'm sure you will be," Santana said. She quickly turned and made her way back toward Brittany.

Rachel watched Brittany's eyes lit up and a giant smile form on her face when Santana whispered something in her ear, and then watched as the blond came barreling down the nearly empty hallway toward her. Before she had, a chance to fully comprehend what had happened she was scooped up into the blonde's arms in a bear hug.

"I hope you say yes," Brittany whispered in her ear, and then set her back on the ground and skipped off toward the gym. Santana gave her nod as she passed her. Rachel had a feeling that she was not going to be able to say no, when she found out what they wanted.

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><p>Despite her better judgment, Rachel found herself staring at Santana's front door, at five o'clock.<p>

The door opened just as she went to knock on it. "Get in here, hobbit, before somebody see's you," Santana hissed, then grabbed the front of Rachel's owl sweater and pulled her into the house. She slammed the door loudly, and then dragged Rachel through the open parlor and up the stairs. Barely giving Rachel enough time to take in her surroundings.

A few seconds later, Rachel was standing in the middle of a large dark bedroom. Santana released her shirt, and sat down on the foot end of the bed. She looked around the room as she said, "Was that really necessary? I could easily have followed you up here on my own."

"Whatever. I got you up here without any small talk. Take a seat, Berry. We got shit to discuss, and I want to get it over with as quickly as possible. Then you can go back to doing whatever the hell it is Hobbits do in there free time."

"While I am not happy with the insult about my height, I do agree with the quickness of this conversation. I have a dance class to get to, and even though I am highly curious why somebody who has spent the last two years helping to make my life miserable, suddenly wants me to come to her home."

"Aye dios mio. Do you ever speak like a normal person?"

"I find normal to be highly over rated," Rachel replied.

"Yeah, well, if you talked normal, maybe you'd have more friends," Santana snipped.

A hurt look briefly crossed Rachel's face. "Like your one to talk miss Lima Heights Adjacent. At least I know how to speak in proper English. Now if you do not mind, I am going to leave. I would rather not stay and continue to be insulted. Especially since, you practically forced me to come here. I hope you have a pleasant evening."

Rachel was half-way through the door when Santana called, "No wait. I'm sorry okay. Please just hear me out, and then you can go." The smaller brunette stood frozen in the doorway, not entirely sure if she her heard the Latina right. Santana Lopez just apologized to her, and she sounded sincere. Moreover, she thought she heard desperation in her voice as well.

"Fine," Rachel said as she turned back into the room. "I will stay and hear what you have to say, but if you insult me again I will leave. Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Got it."

"Good," Rachel said, and then she sat back down on the desk chair. "Now, what is it that you wished to speak with me about?"

"I want to make one thing clear before I get into it. I don't want any of this getting around school. My rep has already taken a bad enough hit now that I quit the Cheerios. I don't need people to know I am willingly sharing air with you, let alone having you here at my house. If it does, the last two years will be nothing compared to the next two. Gots it?"

Rachel was not happy about the subtle insult, or the threat, but she understood that the girl's reputation meant a lot to her. More so now then ever, so she let it slide. "Yes. I understand you perfectly. Nobody will hear about this from me."

"Great," Santana replied, but instead of continuing, she went silent. It was not that big of a deal, but she could not quite get the words to form_. 'This was for Brittany,' she thought. I can put up with the neurotic dwarf for one damn weekend. I have to do this. If I don't, Brittany would be crushed. It's just one damn weekend. How much could go wrong in that amount of time? I can do this.'_

Rachel watched Santana fidget on her bed as she struggled to form the right words. She was actually starting to get a little worried about whatever it was that Santana wanted. Surely, nothing good could come from whatever is, if Santana cannot even get the words out. She finally heard Santana huff, and calmly say, "Britt wants you to come to our sleepover this weekend."

Rachel looked like Santana just hit her. For the first time in her life, she had no clue how to respond to that. It sounded utterly crazy to her, and she was not even sure she had heard the taller girl right. She had watched Santana struggle for nearly five minutes , just to ask her to come to a sleepover. All that build up for that. Here she was thinking that Santana wanted her to have sex with her and Brittany or something criminal.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. She closed her mouth and repeated the process several times. That flicker of hope that she had felt before reignited. She had never been invited to an actual sleepover before. The closest she had ever come to it was when she invited Kurt and Mercedes to sleepover at her house, but they never invited her over to their houses. Her friendship with them was sketchy at best. Both would throw her to the wolves if it meant they got a solo, so the possibility of a friendship, or two forming this weekend was like a dream to her.

She was cautious of the offer though. It did come from one of her biggest tormentors after all, and Santana did not seem to want her there if her previous internal struggle was any indication. She was feeling very discombobulated by it.

Santana would have been laughing her ass of at the petite diva, if she were not so nervous. Hell, she wasn't even sure why she was so nervous. She blamed Brittany, and was silently cursing the tall dancer for making her do this. Brittany had gotten her hopes up, and Rachel said 'no' then she would be crushed.

Rachel opened her mouth again, but this time she finally found her voice. "I'm sorry. I am not entirely sure I heard you correctly. Please repeat that."

With that, all the nervousness she was feeling a minute before was gone. "You heard me right man… err… Berry. Britt's got this insane notion that having you join us for our sleepover will be fun. I tried explaining to her that having you join us would be the equivalent to us having a root-canal done with out any happy drugs, but she wouldn't listen."

Again, Rachel chose to ignore the subtle insult, although she silently gave Santana credit for altering the man-hands comment. That had to be something, right? "Why," She asked. "Brittany has never given any indication that she wanted to pursue a friendship with me, so why now all of a sudden?"

"Look. I'm not happy about this. I would much rather it be me, Q, and Britts getting our drinks on this weekend, but Britt gots this crazy idea that you need to be cheered up. I tried to tell her that you got Aretha, and Lady Lips to take care of that job, but she wouldn't listen. Just kept saying not to judge a duck by its feathers. So here we are. Me asking you to come here for the weekend."

"Why would you agree to it, if you hate the idea of having me join you so much?" Rachel asked.

"Have you ever tried to say no to Brittany?" Santana asked rhetorically. "The look she gives you is worse then if you had just kicked her damn cat. Trust me it is not a look you want to see. I've seen them both exactly one time each, and I don't ever want to see them again."

Rachel was excited by the seemingly honest invitation, but she felt that spending an entire weekend with two people who hate her guts was a horrible idea. She did not want to hurt Brittany's feelings but in her opinion, it was just asking for trouble, even though Brittany would be there. "Well I'm sorry to say that you will be seeing that look on her face when you inform her that I regrettably will not be able to attend the sleepover. However pure Brittany's intentions are; I feel that spending the weekend with you as well as Quinn, who has repeatedly turned down my offer of friendship in the past, is a catastrophe waiting to happen."

"Dios. Would you stop doing that," Santana spat irritably. "And see. It doesn't work that way. If you're bailing, then you have to tell her yourself."

Santana smirked when Rachel visibly deflated, and then said quietly, "But I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"Then I guess you'll be joining us, won't you."

"Yes. I guess I will be," Rachel replied.

"Good," Santana said; clapping her hands together once. "Now that we gots that settled it's time to go over some ground rules. Number one: As much as I love Glee Club, I do not want to hear any singing unless Britts requests it. Gots it?"

"Yes. I understand you perfectly well, and I wish to inform you that I do…"

Santana cut her off by placing her left hand over her mouth. "Rule two: No talking in paragraphs. Nod your head yes if you understand." Rachel nodded her head, which made Santana feel very proud of herself. "Good. Rule three: I cannot stand a full weekend of your ugly clothing. If you'd wear it to school, do not bring it. Normal shit. T-shirt, jeans, sweats, and normal shit to sleep in. If we don't approve, we're gonna burn them and make you stay in your underwear for the entire weekend, and I for one don't want to see your treasure trail."

Rachel mumbled something from under Santana's hand that she could not make out. "I've still got the floor," She told the diva. "Rule number four: You will be drinking with the rest of us. You don't have to keep up with us. You really need to loosen up a bit, and I think a drunken Berry will be highly amusing. If you break any of these rules, I will hog-tie your ass to a chair. Nod if you agree to all of this."

Rachel nodded again. "Good," Santana replied, as she dropped her hand from the smaller girls mouth.

Rachel had not felt this out of sorts since she started high school, and had just gotten her first slushy facial. There were so many thoughts and feelings running through her that she was not sure what she needed to focus on. She was feeling excited, apprehensive, and doubtful all at the same time. She tried to focus on the passivity of a drama free, fun filled weekend, but visions on her cry in a closet kept filling her head. She knew that she just needed to think things through, and then she would feel only excitement. There was one thing, or rather a person who could potentially make this weekend horrible. Finn. She had to know why? Why she slept with him. Why she had to tell her like that, and the boast about it afterwards. If she could at least get that out in the open, then maybe she would not feel so much hostility toward the Latina. "Before I leave, would it be alright if I ask you a question?" she asked.

Santana waved her hand at her. "Keep it brief, but I'm reserving the right not to answer."

"I know it's not any of my business and I don't really have a right to ask about it because I was with Jessie at the time, but I have to know. Why did you sleep with him? What did you get out of it?"

Santana knew when Brittany convinced her to do this, that Rachel might want to talk about Finn, but she was still slightly stunned by the inquires. _'Shit,' _she thought to herself. "Umm… Damn it Rachel. It had nothing to do with you. It didn't mean anything to either of us. I only did it so that I could secure my spot as head Cheerio."

"If it didn't mean anything, then why did you brag about in front of everybody?" Rachel asked.

Santana felt a pang of guilt form in her chest. Rachel looked small, and vulnerable. It was something she had never seen from the petite diva. Something Rachel tried very hard not to show in front of her classmates.

"I'm sorry. I never should have told you that in front of everybody. You needed to know though. I tried to get Frankenteen to tell you himself, but he refused. He wanted to continue lying to you. I was going to tell you in private, but you pissed me off and I just snapped. I wanted to hurt you, and I knew that would do it."

For the third time that day, Rachel was questioning her hearing. She could not believe that Santana Lopez was apologizing to her, and was shocked that it sounded the sincere. "I accept your apology," she replied. "While I appreciate knowing the truth, I am confused as to why you felt the need to tell me at all. Why not just let me in the dark?"

"Look. It's no secret that I don't really like you, but I know how much you value your virginity. I didn't think it was cool that Finnessa was lying to you about something you value," Santana said sincerely. Then she nonchalantly said, "Plus I wanted to save you from what would have been two minutes of having a heavy, sweaty, grunting, Finnept on top of you."

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you're making it seem," Rachel replied.

"Your right. It was worse. Sex is supposed to be fun, and satisfying. Trust me I saved you from making a huge sweaty, disgusting mistake."

"I guess I will have to take your word for it," Rachel said. "I feel that in a way, I owe you a thank you. I do love Finn, but I think that the break-up was for the best. I was wearing love goggles when it came to him, they did not come off until I had time to think and reflect. Finn is a very sweet guy, but he is not that sharpest note in the song. I cannot be in a relationship with somebody who is cannot respect my choices, and values. I have repeatedly told him that I am vegan, and yet he continued to try to feed me meat. Not to mention that he never stands up for me."

Santana choose to ignore the long-winded monologue, and chose to focus on the end. "Jeeze, I don't know how anybody can forget that. Especially after St. Jackass, and the V.A. nimrods egged you. I even felt bad for you when you told us about the dreams."

"Ugh. I've had those dreams regularly since that incident, and I told him about them every time I had one," Rachel said.

"Aye dios mio. How daft can one boy be? Brittany has trouble remembering things sometimes, but she is the one who reminded me to get you vegan food for this weekend. Even though she doesn't exactly understand what it means to be a vegan."

"She did. That's so sweet," Rachel gushed. The uneasy feeling she had earlier was quickly disappearing, while her excitement mounted. "I may be risking bodily harm by asking this, but are we having a civil conversation?"

A shocked look appeared on Santana's face for a moment. She was right. They were having a decent conversation. "Yeah, I guess we are. Maybe this weekend won't be so bad."

"I hope so," Rachel said, and then glanced at the clock on Santana's bedside table. "I'm sorry, but I really must be going. I am going to be late for ballet class. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bring your stuff to school tomorrow. We're going to Breadsticks right after school, and please for the love of Dios wear something normal to school tomorrow."

"Okay. I hope you have a wonderful evening," Rachel said, and then started to move toward the door. Turning back toward the Latina when she reached the door. "I have one more question before I go. Why did you insist on me coming here to invite me to the sleepover? You could have easily asked me at school, and still protected your reputation."

"Oh. Yeah I was planning on doing that, but Britt thought it would be a good idea to ask you to come when you're already in my house. Something about being comfortable. I don't know. Britt doesn't always make sense, but there's usually a good reason behind the madness."

"Okay, Goodnight," Rachel said, and then left the room.

Santana heard the front door close a few seconds later. She laid backwards on the bed and stared up at the glow-in-the-dark star covered ceiling. After she had her room painted black, Brittany decided that the Latina needed stars on her ceiling. Brittany told her that the star would be something fun to stare at when she was thinking about rainbows. Sometimes the blonde did not make much sense, but she always seemed to be able to read people like a book. Some how she knew that the stars would be a great source of comfort to her.

She replayed the last hour in her head. She hoped this weekend was not going to be as bad as she initially thought. This is what Brittany wanted, and she wanted she got. They may not be having sexy times anymore, but Santana would still lay her life down, if it meant Brittany did not get hurt.

She thought back to the duets competition. It was one of the few times she had said no to Brittany, and it had nearly destroyed there friendship. The dancer had not said it aloud, but Santana knew exactly what Brittany was asking for. They had been sleeping together on a regular basis for nearly two years, and Brittany wanted to put a label on there relationship. Something she had not been ready for. After refusing to sing a duet with her, Brittany not only cut her off, she proceeded to try to make her jealous. It worked.

Brittany let the infraction slide, and thing went back to normal between the two of them. The had sexy times, and never talked about what it meant to them. Keeping there feelings buried deep. At least until Artie came begging the blonde for a second chance, and Brittany demanded Santana to talk about the relationship. Santana praised the blonde for her evil method of getting her to talk.

_Santana was lying naked on her bed, with her wrists handcuffed to her bedpost, and an equally naked Brittany between her legs. Two fingers buried deep in her, while the blonde nipped at her clit. _

_Santana's hips bucking wildly and Brittany knew she was close. She pulled her head away from the Latina's clit, but kept her fingers inside of her. "San. We really need to talk."_

"_Not the best time, babe," Santana struggled to say._

_Brittany nipped at Santana's clit, and then said, "Now is the perfect time to talk." She brought Santana to the cusp of an orgasm, and then stilled all movements._

"_Britt, what the hell," Santana demanded, her hands pulling at the cuffs. "I was so close."_

"_I know," Brittany told her, and then nipped at her clit, pulled her fingers out of her before slamming them back in. "I told you we need to talk."_

"_What… ah, what does that have to do with you not letting me cum?" Santana asked._

"_I want to talk about us silly," Brittany said, and then stilled her hand. "I'll let you cum when you agree to talk to me."_

"_Fine. Please, Britt. I need to cum," Santana begged. "What do you want to talk about?"_

_Brittany started moving her fingers in and out again. She sucked Santana's clit into her mouth, before releasing it and saying, "I want to know how you feel about me. Your sexy feelings."_

"_Britt. We don't talk about that," Santana said._

_Brittany sped her thrusting fingers up, sucked firmly on Santana clit, and brought her once again to the brink of an orgasm before completely pulling away from the brunette._

"_Britt," Santana whined._

"_No. Sanny I want to know how you feel. Artie want to get back together, and I'm confused. The only way I can become un-confused is if you talk to me. Please?"_

_Santana bucked her hips. "I promise I will talk, if you make me cum. Damn it. Please," Santana begged._

_That was good enough for the blonde. Santana had never once broken a promise to her. She dived back in. Taking the shorter girls clit into her mouth, sucking firmly, while pushing two fingers back into her. Pumping in and out quickly. She released the clit, flicked her tongue rapidly over it, before taking it back into her mouth. Thanks to already being brought to the cusp several times, it did not take long for Brittany to push Santana over the edge. _

_Santana's body was hit with one of the most powerful orgasms she had ever had. Brittany stayed in her spot, lick her pussy clean until Santana's body completely relaxed, then crawled up the bed. She snuggled into her left side and using her left breast as a pillow. Santana tried to bring her left arm down to wrap it around the blonde but found it still cuffed to the bedposts._

"_Um… Britt. Can you un-cuff me. I want to get my cuddles on."_

"_No. Not until we talk," Britt replied._

"_Britt, I promised I would talk. There is no reason to hold me hostage," Santana argued._

"_I know you San. We talk first and then I'll release you," Brittany said._

"_Fine," Santana huffed. "What do you want to know?"_

_Brittany propped herself up on her right arm and looked at Santana. "I want to know how you feel about me."_

"_I love you Britt. You know that," Santana replied._

"_What are we?" Brittany asked._

"_We're best friends, B. You and me against the world, forever."_

"_Friends who have sexy times almost every day," Brittany stated._

"_Look, Britt. I know what you want. You want to put a label on this, and I just can't do that. I love you. I really do, in every way that I'm suppose to feel about a stupid guy, but why do we have to change how we work. We work good. This works good."_

"_I love you, too. but this isn't working. You're still hovering over the rainbow, instead of sitting on it, and I don't want to be hidden. I want to be able to share sweet kisses in public and be able to say I'm with this person."_

"_I can't give that to Brittany. I wish I could, but I just can't," Santana said sadly._

"_Then I think after tonight we should go back to being just friends. No more sweet lady kisses or sexy times."_

"_Britt. Please," Santana said. Tears started welling up in her eyes. She did not want to lose this, but she knew she could not keep hiding her away, despite never officially committing._

"_I don't want to lose you, but I want to try things with Artie. He can give me something your not ready for. Please. Can we just go back to being best friends?"_

In the end, Santana had agreed. At the time, she had not been sure if she could be around the blonde with out wanting to kiss and touch her, or see her with Artie. It was awkward at first, but they quickly feel into their old routine. The pain she felt, disappeared over time, and she even got used to seeing Brittany and Artie together. Santana felt that the 'break-up' had brought them even closer together as friends then before. Especially since the raven-haired beauty had officially come out to the blonde on New Years.

Yes. Brittany's evil, but cunning plan had worked. It had force Santana to really face her sexuality head on, instead of hiding behind their fun sexy times.

Was she ready for everyone else to know about her orientation? No, but that does not mean she was not happy with who she was. She may not show it at school, after all, she did have a reputation to up hold, but she was not as angry or bitter as she once was. Admitting it to her and even more so when she said it aloud to Brittany, had lifted a heavy weight off her chest. Some still lingered, but know she knew what was causing it.

She envied Kurt for being able to do what she could not. For having the strength and courage to let everybody know who he is. She wanted to tell the club, her friends, and her family, but she was not ready for that just yet. She was terrified of what they would think of her. That maybe they would not love her anymore.

She was not sure how long she laid there lost in her thoughts, but she was pulled put of them by her mother, Anna peaking to her from her open doorway. "Yeah, Mama," she said, as she sat up.

"Are you alright?" Anna asked. "I've been calling you for ten minutes."

"I'm fine, Mama. I was just thinking. I'm sorry that I didn't hear you," Santana replied.

"It's alright, sweetie. Your Papi called. He said he'll be home in an hour, and that he's going to pick up Chinese food on his way. I thought we could bake some cookies for your sleepover while we wait."

"That sounds great," Santana said. She got off the bed, and followed her mother out of the room. "You got the vegan crap to make some for Rachel, right. Britts will never forgive me if we don't have any for Berry to eat."

"Yes. I got the vegan substitutes, and I found a great recipe for vegan chocolate cake, that I want to try. I have to say. I admire your friend for her dedication to her beliefs."

Santana didn't correct her mother about the friend comment. As Far as Mama Lopez knew, they were friends. "Yeah, Berry doesn't do anything half-assed Mama."

"Language, Mija," Anna scolded as they walked into the kitchen. "I wish I could meet her, but you Papi and I will be gone by the time you girls get home from school."

"Maybe next time."

"I hope so. Are you sure Quinn's mother, and Rachel's fathers are fine with their daughters staying here unsupervised?"

"Quinn mom could care less. She lets Quinn do whatever she wants. She's still trying to make up for let her father toss her pregger ass out. I'm not sure about the Berry's. I just asked her tonight."

The latter piece of information shocked Anna. She turned away from the cupboard, where she had been gathering supplies from, and looked at the girl. "Wait. What? What do you mean you just asked her tonight? You've been reminding me to get the vegan substitutes for nearly two weeks."

Santana shrugged her shoulders, "I guess I was procrastinating a bit. I don't exactly get along with her. Britts is the one who wants her to come."

"How did you know she was going to say yes?" Anna asked.

"Because nobody can say no to Brittany," Santana stated. "If the Berry's are as close as Rachel makes them out to be, you will probably be getting a call from one of her dads."

A shimmer of hope shines brightly in the older woman's eyes. "Well I look forward to it. I haven't spoken to Hiram in years."

Her mother never mentioned knowing the Berry's. "You know the Berry's?"

"I've only met Leroy briefly at a benefit several years ago, but I went to high school with Hiram," Anna replied. "He was my best friend. We even dated for a while, but then he realized that he was gay. After that we pretended to be dating for awhile."

"Aye Dios mio! You were Rachel Berry's father's beard. That is some priceless shit, Mama!" Santana exclaimed, giggling uncharacteristically.

"Santana, language," Anna scolded, and then looked at her daughter with a big smile planted on her face. "Hiram and I had quite a few laughs out it ourselves."

"So what happened? Why ain't ya friends anymore?" Santana asked as she broke several eggs into the non-vegan cookie batter.

"Well as you know my ex-husband wasn't the greatest guy. When I first met Nick, Hiram told me he was bad news, but I smitten and refused to listen to him. Even after Nick hit me for the first time. When Hiram saw new bruises on me nearly weekly, he tried everything to get me to see the light, but with no avail. He even went to my parents. I was very pissed at him after that, and he finally gave up. He said that he couldn't stand by and watch me get hurt, and I was suppose to call him if I ever came to my senses," Anna recounted the story as she mixed the batter for the vegan chocolate cake.

"Did you ever call him again?" Santana asked, as she put the first batch of cookies into the top oven.

"No," Anna said sadly. "I was embarrassed for not listening to him. For throwing our friendship away and I was equally angry at him for giving up on me."

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I can't imagine my life without Brittany," Santana said. "Do you regret not listening to Mr. Berry?"

As she poured the cake batter into the cake pan, Anna pondered her daughter's question. Searching for the right answer. "I regret loosing Hiram as a friend, but I don't regret staying with Nick," she answered honestly. "If I had listened to him then I wouldn't have had your sisters and brother. I never would had met you father at the hospital that night, and I never would have had you. Sometimes the best of things are spawned from the worst of situations. This is a prime example."

Quiet over took the large kitchen as Santana though over everything her mother told her. Santana knew the story of how her parents met very well. Her parents kept very few things from her, and her siblings. She had only been given the abridged version until she reached high school. Back then, it was simple Mama and Papi met at the hospital and fell in love, and that her siblings had a different biological father then she did.

As she got older, she realized that her parents had not told her the full story, but they had told her older siblings. So when she entered high school she asked her parents for the real story. It was not a big request. Her parents had always planned on tell her. After all, it was a good teaching story. They did not want her to make the same mistake that her mother had. Therefore, they told her the tale.

Her Mama's first husband was abusive towards her, and had went to jail for it. Her Papi, Felix was working in the ER the night her mother, who was three months pregnant, was brought in, beaten nearly to death. It was a miracle she survived the attack, let alone her un-born son, but they both had. Her three-year-old twin daughters Samantha and Alaya had been safe at her parent's house. She had stayed in the hospital for nearly a month, and her Papi visited her room daily. Whenever he told the story, he said that there was just something about her that made him unable to stay away.

Nick had been arrested for attempted murder for the attack, among other chargers, and had been denied bail. She had the opening she needed to finally get away from him, and Felix was all too happy to replace the bastard. Which he made very clear when she was released from the hospital. He gave her an open-ended invitation for a date. She had refused at first, but gave him an alternative. Her phone number. He called her every night at nine o'clock, when he knew the twins would be asleep. He gave her the time she needed to move past what had happened, and in the process, they both fell madly in love.

Four months later Nick was sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole in twenty. Due to the sentence, Anna was granted a speedy divorce from him, and she had his parental rights terminated. The week she had gotten the final divorce papers, Felix asked Anna out on a date again, for the first time since the hospital. This time she said yes. After that, the rest of their lives kind of fell into place. The got married just after Anna had the baby, who was named after Felix, who had signed the birth certificate. He adopted the twins, and four years later had Santana.

Felix Sr. told the story regularly to Santana, among other stories. She loved her family, so she understood why her mother would not change to past. She admired her Papi for having a big heart, and for taking children who were not biologically his, and loving them no different then he did her. She hoped he would be that loving and understanding when she came out to him.

The chocolate cake and several batches of regular sugar cookies baked as Santana got lost recounting the story in her mind. Not once in all those time, had either of them mentioned Mr. Berry. "Does Papi know about Mr. Berry?" She finally asked, freighting her Mama who was washing a bowl.

Anna looked at her daughter weirdly. "Yes your Papi knows all about Hiram. He's been trying for years to get me to patch things up with him."

"Why haven't you?" Santana asked.

"Pride, mostly, and fear. I'm afraid that Hiram won't accept me back into his life. I pretty much threw our friendship away over a guy."

"So Papi's okay with Mr. Berry being gay?" Santana asked, and then added, "Are you both okay with gay people in general?"

"Of course he is, Mija," Anna said to her daughter. "Have your Papi and I ever given you the impression that were not okay with gay people?"

"I guess not. You and Papi have never really talked about gay people. I guess I just assumed that since you've never talked about that particular subject, that you weren't okay with it," Santana replied meekly.

"Mija, I'm sorry if your Papi and I every gave you that impression. I honestly have no idea why this subject has been brought up before," Anna replied.

The timer for the next batch of cookie dinged, which gave Santana a perfect excuse to think, not that she needed one. It was a perfect opportunity to see if her Mama and Papi would be okay with her sexuality. The subject had been raised for the first time. However, she knew her mother well. She would ask why Santana wanted to know. It was risky, but it was a risk she had to take. There was no questioning it now. She knew she is gay, and she would have to tell her parents at some point. This will give an idea of how it will go. IT will tell her weather to wait for a while or tell them soon. Maybe if her Mama made it clear that she was fine with it she would tell her today.

"So," She said, slowly as she put the next batch of cookies into the oven. "If one of us told you and Papi that we're gay, would you be okay with it?"

"Of course we would be," Anne answered without hesitation. "We love you all so much, and nothing will change that. Sexuality is something you can not choose, so why be mad about it." Santana managed to keep the relief she was feeling from showing, but Mrs. Lopez was no fool. "Santana is there something you want to tell me?"

There it was. The question she knew was coming, but it still manage to throw her off. One of the timers dinged, but Santana made no move to check the ovens. Instead, she sat quietly, watched as her mother check the ovens, and panicked. This was it. She could lie, say no and keep hiding that part of her, or she could tell her the truth. She wanted to say yes. She wanted to tell her mother that she is a lesbian. It was right there on the tip of her tongue.

She wanted to say it, but the tightening in her chest stopped her. Her mouth was rapidly becoming dry, and she was feeling nauseous. She could feel and hear her heart beating loudly in her chest. She knew that all of this could go away if she just says the words. Just like when she told Brittany. She had felt better after that. She had felt free.

It was just two little words, but this was not Brittany. This was not her telling best friend and former lover, that she's gay. This was her telling her Mama, and it made it real. Telling her mother changes everything. She wanted to say the words. They were right there on the tip of her tongue.

Then they weren't.

"I'm gay." The words rolled off her tongue as if it was the most natural thing in the world. They were softly spoken, but full of confident.

She felt a brief moment of relief, before shear panic set back in. She had just told her mother that she's gay, and she could take those words back. She was afraid that her mother lied to her. Afraid that when she looked up at her, she would find disgust written on her face.

She did not.

Her mother was looking at heart her with a soft smile. She looked genuinely happy. Relief flooded her entire body. Tears sprang to her eyes, and Anne walked to her daughter, and wrapped her in a big hug.

Happiness replaced relief. This was even better then when she told Brittany. She could do this. If she got over the initial fear of telling people, it wouldn't feel so bad.

"Mija?" asked a deep male voice, breaking the silence. One single word, and the panic and fear returned ten times worse then before. Both women turned toward the kitchen door. Standing there, with a bag of food, stood her Papi. His face was unreadable, except for the tears in his eyes.

* * *

><p>Rachel bounced through her front door a little after seven. "Dads, I'm home," she yelled, as she hung her scarf and coat in the closet.<p>

"In the kitchen, sweetie," her Daddy Leroy yelled, five seconds before his excite daughter bounced into the room, and over to the table where he was sitting.

"Hi Daddy!" she exclaimed happily, right before him a kiss on cheek. "Where's Dad?" she asked, not giving him a chance to return the hello.

"Right behind you," Hiram said, and then joined them at the table.

"Hi Dad," she said, and the turned toward him to give him a kiss as well.

"Somebody's happy today," Hiram noted.

"You didn't get back together with that Finn character again did you?" Leroy asked, fearfully.

"No. Please Daddy. Give me a little more credit then that. I have a better chance of meeting Barbra herself, then getting back together with Finn."

"Good," Leroy said, patting his chest in relief. "Don't get me wrong. Finn is a nice boy, but he is not boyfriend material. Especially if the girlfriend is my little girl."

"Daddy," Rachel whined. "I'm not your little girl anymore."

"You'll always be our little girl, Pumpkin," Hiram said. "So what does have you in such a splendid mood?" A look of panic, and terror crossed his face suddenly. "You didn't have sex did you? It wasn't the punk Puckerman was it?" He fired off and then grabbed his chest. "Oh my god! You let that punk defile you."

"Dad," Rachel squealed. "I can assure you that I did not have sexual relations of any kind with Noah. We are merely friends. Oddly enough it is Santana who has made me so happy."

"Santana Lopez! You let the girl who insults you every chance she gets, defile you like that," Hiram said, even more panicked then before.

Rachel was silently berating herself for not wording that better. "I did not have sexual relations with Santana, or anybody else, and I am insulted that you do not trust me enough to decide when I am ready to take that step with somebody."

"You're right, Pumpkin," Leroy said. "Your dad is sorry. Aren't you dear?"

Leroy gave his husband a look. "Yes, yes, of course. I am sorry dear. I was having a dad panic attack. I am sure it will pass in a moment. Please tell us why Miss Lopez has you so happy," Hiram said.

"Santana has invited me to a sleepover this weekend. Well she didn't really give me a choice, but I'm still excited by the prospects of this weekend," Rachel said, her happiness bubbling to the surface once again.

"Let me get this straight," Leroy started to say, and the paused for a brief moment when his husband scoffed at him. He sent a playful glare towards the tall man, before turning back to his daughter. "One of the girls, who has spent ninety percent of her time making sure that your school life is a living hell, wants you to come to a sleepover. Begs the question, why? How do you know this isn't a setup?"

Rachel was unusually quiet. Her father's had every right to question Santana's motives. They both knew all about the verbal and slushy attacks she endured on a daily basis. She refused to let her classmates see her pain, but she relished in the comfort her fathers provide at home, while she cried away the pain.

The possibility of a setup had crossed her mind, but Santana's intentions seemed innocent. It was no secret that Santana would do anything for the tall blonde. Brittany was the reason she knew that there was no setup.

"Daddy. I thought about that already, and I do not think it is. Brittany is the one who wants me to join them for the weekend. As I already explained, Brittany would never wish ill will on anyone intentionally. I am really looking forward to it. You know the only one I have ever had was with Mercedes and Kurt, and our friendship is rocky at best. If this weekend goes really well then I could have three new friends. Please let me go."

She did it. She pulled out the one card that was sure to get them to agree without having to make a lengthy power point presentation. Normally she would already had one prepared for when she told them about the invitation, but due to the lateness of said invitation, she had not had time to prepare one.

"Fine Pumpkin, You may go, but I want this girl's number so that we can call her parents," Leroy said.

"But Daddy," Rachel whined. "Is that really necessary? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course we trust you, Angel. We just want to make sure that you will be safe. That's all," Hiram said.

"While I see your perspective. I feel that it is unnecessary for you to contact Santana's parents. She seems very honest with the invitation and the reasons behind it."

"Pumpkin. This is not up for discussion. Either you give us the number or you do not go. The choice is yours," Leroy sternly, but gently said.

"Fine," Rachel replied, as she pulled out her phone out of her skirt pocket, and scrolled though her contacts. She had all of the clubs cell and home numbers. She had only used the Latina's number a few times and each time had been Glee related. She placed her phone on the table, and then said, "I'm going to gather my stuff for the weekend. I ate before I came home, so after that I'm finished packing, I'm going to proceed with my nightly routine."

"Okay Pumpkin," Leroy said, as she kissed each of them again.

"Make sure you pack your feminine products. It's almost that time of the month again and you wouldn't want to be unprepared," Hiram said, as she reached to kitchen door.

"Dad," She squealed, and then mumbled, "I need more girls around me." She ran out of the room and up the steps before either of her fathers could embarrass her further.

"Must you do that?" Leroy asked, rhetorically. "You know she hates it when you bring up her feminine heath."

"Because it's funny. As you well know," Hiram answered.

"Yeah it is," Leroy agreed. "It also proves a point in Rachel's favor. Her only friends are a gay boy, and a rival diva. Both of who have already proven that what they want is more important then that friendship. She needs more female friends. Ones who will not let petty rivalry get in the way. If that happens this weekend then I will be a happy man, because our daughter will be happy. That being said, you have a phone call to make."

"Me. Why me? You are more then capable of calling that girls parents," Hiram said, his voice reaching a higher octave then normal.

"One of Santana's parents just happens to be your former best-friend, and it is time for you two to talk about it and patch things up," Leroy told his husband, holding him Rachel's phone. "We both know how much you miss her, so don't even try and deny it, Hiram. Call Anna, make sure our baby girl will be safe there for the weekend and then talk to her."

Hiram looked hesitant for a moment, before taking the offered phone, and dialing the number.

* * *

><p>The fear was back, and it was worse then before. She could not quite read the look on her Papi's face. Anger, disappointment, disgust, or just plain sadness? Tears prang to her eye's to match those in her Papi's.<p>

"Papi," she said quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

She knew it was impossible to truly take back the words, but in her panicked state, she did not care. She could not handle it if her Papi rejected her. She was suffocating in the overwhelming feelings, that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. She should have just trusted what she had told herself an hour ago. That she wasn't ready to tell anybody else. She made a rash decision, and now she was facing the consequences.

"Mija," Felix said, as he walked over to her, stopping briefly to deposit the food on the counter. As he wrapped his arms around his daughter, he said, "Mija. It's all right. There is no reason to be sorry. You have done nothing wrong. Te amo. That will never change. I am so proud of you."

"You are?" Santana question through heavy tears.

"Of course I am Mija," he replied, pulling away from her, and looking into her eyes. "Don't ever be afraid to be who you are. I am very proud that you are able to share that part of yourself with your mother and I."

"Then why did you start crying?" she asked, as she wiped tears off her face with her sleeve.

"Because the…" He was cut off by a loud ringing.

"I better get that. It might be Hiram," Anna said and then dashed out of the room.

"Hiram Berry?" Felix asked, looking back to his daughter. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, Britts made me invite Rachel for the weekend. I figured one of her dads would be calling to make sure she is safe here with me."

"Why would she not be safe with you?"

"No reason," Santana said nonchalantly.

"Okay. I hope it is Hiram on the phone. I've been telling Anna to for years to reconnect with him."

"Papi. What were you saying before the phone rang?" Santana asked.

Felix sat down on a stool next to Santana. "I'm upset because I realized that my baby girl isn't my baby anymore. Coming to terms with your sexual orientation is not always easy to do so young. To share that part of you with other people is so mature. Many people are not able to admit it to themselves until late in life. Hearing you tell your mother that you are gay was a shock. I felt very proud of you, and I was slightly jealous that you told your Mama before me. It was a lot to take in all at once, hence the tears."

"So you're okay with me being… this way?" Santana asked in a meek voice.

"Well I have to admit it might take some time to adjust, but I am perfectly fine with it," Felix said, and then sniffed the air. "Do you smell something burning?"

A look of horror crossed Santana's features. "Shit, the cookies," she yelled, as she jumped off the stool, and ran to the ovens. "Mama must have put more in. Damn it."

"Language, Mija," Felix scolded. "They don't look so bad. Just brush of the bottoms and you're good to go."

"Yeah, I guess," Santana said.

"I'm starving," Felix suddenly said. "I'll help you with next batch, and then we can eat while they're baking. Sound good?"

"Yeah Papi," Santana said. They were silent as they worked on the cookies, but she didn't mind. It gave her head a chance to catch up to her heart. This was good for her. She felt better, freer, just like she had when she told Brittany, only better. She was relieved that it had not been a mistake.

Felix pulled three plates out, and started dishing food out onto two of them. "So you and Brittany?"

"Huh?" Santana asked, as she shoved chicken into her mouth.

"Are you and Brittany together?" Felix asked.

Santana nearly choked on her food. She had not expected to hear her Papi question girlfriends already so openly. "Umm… no, I mean we used to… you know…um... fool around, but she wanted to be more exclusive and I wasn't ready for that. She actually was the one who made come to terms with it."

"She had one of her insightful moments," Felix chuckled.

"Yeah, a mean moment meshed with it," Santana grumbled.

Felix went to say something, but was interrupted when Anna reappeared behind them. "Santana? What is this I'm hearing about you bulling Rachel Berry?"

"_Shit,"_Santana thought. _"Of course her dads would know about that. The midget tells them everything." _Aloud she said nothing. Just looked over her shoulder at her Mama with a guilt look on her face. _"Crap. I'm in trouble."_

* * *

><p>AN: Let me know what you think. If ya'll like what I have so far, I'll get to writing more.


	2. Snow Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

AN: I want to thank everybody who reviewed, alerted, and added this to their favorites. They mean a lot to me. This chapter was going to be much longer but I decided to end it early so that I could get a new chapter out. Several people have asked if this was going to be pezberry endgame. Yes it is. Please let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Snow Day<p>

The following morning Rachel walked into the choir room for an early morning Glee meeting, and was attacked by a squealing blonde-haired blur. She found herself off the ground and in a giant bear hug, causing her to drop her duffle bag.

"I'm so glad you said yes!" Brittany exclaimed, hugging Rachel harder. "We're going to have so much fun."

"I am sure we will," She gasped. "Brittany you are very strong."

"Artie tells me that every time I put him in bed," Brittany said, as she placed Rachel back on the floor. "I keep telling him that if I wasn't, then we'd have to have sexy times in his chair, and it's not very comfortable we do it like that."

"Britt," Santana said, making Rachel jump. She had not realized that she was in the room with them. "I don't think the hobbit wants to hear about your sexy times with Wheels."

"But S, its fun making her change colors," Brittany said cheekily, making Santana laugh.

Rachel scoffed, "I can assure you that I do not change colors."

"Are you sure about that, Midget?" Santana teased.

"Yes. I am quite sure of it," She replied. "You are here early."

"Britt wanted to talk to you before Glee, and I wanted to make sure you followed rule three," Santana explained, looking Rachel over. Santana gave the girl props. She actually looked like a teenager for once. She was wearing a pair of jeans, and a Wicked t-shirt. It was simple, but Santana really liked how it showed off her assets. "Glad to see you listened to me. You actually look kinda hot, Midget."

"Thank you Santana. I appreciate the complement, despite the crassness of it, and I can assure you that I followed your rule number three," Rachel said.

"I'll be the judge of that," Santana said, and then scooped up Rachel's duffle bag. "I didn't peg you for a duffle bag kinda girl. Though for sure that you'd show up with a bedazzled pink suitcase of wheels."

"I do have a bedazzled pink suitcase on wheels that I use for long trips, but since I need clothing for this weekend I decided on just my duffle."

"And tampons apparently," Santana said, holding up a box of regular tampons. "I hope you're not going to be moody all weekend."

"No I will not be moody all weekend. My dad must have put them in there after I went to bed last night. He thinks it is nearly that time," Rachel explained irritation clear in her voice.

"Your daddies know about your lady issues?" Brittany whispered, clearly shocked.

Instead of answering verbally, Rachel nodded her head yes, because to she did not know how to say it without possibly hurting her feeling. She turned back to Santana, who was still inspecting her bag, and asked, "Is that really necessary?"

"Yes it is," Quinn said from out of nowhere, making Rachel jump for the second time that morning.

"Quinn! When did you get here?" Rachel asked.

"I've been sitting here the entire time. You really should pay more attention to your surroundings," She answered, sounding almost sincere. Almost. "Anything good in there, S?"

"Yeah. Midget actually has some decent clothing. There isn't a single thing with animals on it," Santana replied. Then wistfully said, "No skirts though. I don't really mind them. It's just the animal sweaters and all the damn argyle that drives me crazy."

"I like her animal sweaters," Brittany said. "Especially the one with the kitty who looks like Lord Tubbington. Hey, can I borrow it sometime, Rachy?"

Rachel looked dumbfounded, while the former cheerleaders looked at their friend with matching horrified expressions on their faces.

"Um… sure Brittany," Rachel answered.

"Cool," Brittany said. "Hey, aren't we supposed to have a Glee meeting? Where is everybody else?"

"It's only six now B. We still have fifteen minutes before it starts. They'll start showing up soon," Santana said.

"Rachy, are you going to sing today?" Brittany asked.

"I had not planned on it," Rachel replied.

"That's too bad, because I like it when you sing. It sounds like angels," Brittany said, and then whispered, "Are you an angel, Rachy?"

Rachel was thrown, by the off-handed complement. "No, I am not an angel, but thank you for the compliment.

"You're welcome," Brittany told her. "I'm really excited about this weekend."

"So am I," Rachel said. "I must admit that I was a little skeptical of the invitation, but Santana made a very convincing argument."

"God, man-hands," Quinn said. "It is barely six in the damn morning. I am too tired to listen to you talk in paragraphs."

"Q," Santana yelled. "I said no more mean nick-names."

"What the hell, S? You've called her midget and hobbit like five times since we've been here," Quinn countered.

"Yeah, but those are like terms of endearment."

"I don't know why you care all of a sudden. You called her treasure-trail just yesterday," Quinn said.

"Yeah, well that was yesterday. ," Santana said and then snapped. "Look, I don't need to explain myself. No more mean names," Santana snapped.

Quinn looked irritated. "Why are we even here? We rarely have before school Glee meetings."

"Because Regional's are in a few weeks, and we need as much practice as we can possible get, if we are going to persevere to Nationals."

"Persevere? Really?" Quinn asked rhetorically.

"Quinn," Santana said in a warning tone.

"What? I didn't call her a name," Quinn argued.

"You're being a bitch today. More so then usual," Santana said.

Rachel and Brittany were watching the two of them bickering back and forth quietly, Brittany's phone vibrated in her pocket. She read the text, and then showed her phone to Rachel.

"Hey S," Brittany said, bringing the still bickering girl's attention to her. "Artie just sent me a weird text. He wants to know if I want to hang out today, before our sleepover."

"How is that weird, Britt?" Santana asked.

"Because he knows I'm going with you right after school," Brittany answered.

"Also, he wants her to go over to his house at nine," Rachel added.

"So, he just wants you to skip with him," Santana said.

"But Artie never skips," Brittany said. She was starting to get frustrated.

"Alright Britt, chill out. Text Wheels and ask him about school," Santana said.

After a minute, Brittany's phone buzzed again. "He said that there's no school. How can there be no school, Sanny? We're in it right now."

"I think he means that school was cancelled for the day. Like a snow day," Rachel explained.

"Oh, that makes more sense. Why didn't he just say that? How can we have a snow day without any snow?" Brittany asked.

"It was snowing lightly when I came in, but I don't think it was enough to cancel school," Rachel answered.

"Apparently we all should have checked the news this morning, because there's a storm moving in," Quinn said, and then handed her phone to Rachel.

"Mama didn't say anything last night. Papi and her are supposed to be leaving in a few hours," Santana said.

"How much are we supposed to get?" Brittany asked.

"Nine to twelve," Rachel answered. "It says the storm made an unexpected shift southern last night," Rachel told them, and then off-handedly said, "Stupid ass weather men can never predict the weather right."

Santana, Brittany, and Quinn looked at Rachel in shock. She had just swore. Rachel looked up and noticed their looks. "What? I do not like the weather people. They are paid a ridicules amount of money to lie to us daily. It is a bunch of bull."

Santana could not believe Rachel was getting so upset over the weather people. Sure, she did a diva storm out nearly weekly, but she was usually so calm about everything else. "Britt," she said sounding slightly distracted. "Text your boy-toy, and tell him we're starting the sleepover now, and you can't hang."

"Okay S," Brittany said, happily.

"Midget, did you drive?" Santana asked.

"No. I had Daddy drop me off on his way to work," Rachel answered.

"Good lets go," Santana said. She grabbed Rachel's duffle bag on the way out the door.

* * *

><p>Santana silently thanked whatever God was looking out for them, as the four of them trudged through the front door. An inch of snow had fallen in the half-an-hour Rachel had been in the school.<p>

"Mija, is that you?" Anna called from the kitchen.

"Yeah Mama," Santana called, as the girls took their coats off, and hung them up in the hall closet.

"I thought you were still in bed," Anna said as Santana walked into the kitchen, with the other three girls following closely behind.

"Hi Mama," Brittany greeted happily, and then skipped over and gave her a hug. "It snowing, and we don't have school."

Good morning dear," Anna said, accepting the hug from the tall blonde. "I know it's snowing. Did you sneak over again last night?"

"No Mama. Sanny picked me and Q up before school, but then it was cancelled. So we came back here with Rachy," Brittany answered as she searched through the fridge.

It was then that Anna noticed the Quinn and Rachel standing by the door. "Hello girls."

"Hi, Anna," Quinn said, as she sat down on the stool next to Santana.

"Hello Mrs. Lopez," Rachel said as she walked further into the kitchen, and then extended her right hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello dear. Please call me Anna. Mrs. Lopez is my mother-in-law," Anna said taking the offered hand. "It is a pleasure to finally get to meet you. My dear, you have Hiram's eyes."

"You know my father?" Rachel questioned, visibly confused.

Anna did not have a chance to answer the question, because Santana beat her to it. She snorted and then said, "Apparently our parents were besties in high school. They even dated for a while. At least until you dad came out to her, and then they just pretended to date."

Rachel looked stunned for a moment, and then started chuckling.

"Yeah. That was my reaction too," Santana said.

"My father never mentioned it," Rachel said.

"I understand why not," Anna said. "Until last night I hadn't told Santana either. Hiram and I did not leave on the best of terms. I'm hoping that dinner on Thursday with help mend the rifted between us."

"Dinner?" Rachel asked.

"You and your dads are coming here on Thursday," Santana said, and then looked to her Mama. "Are you still leaving today?"

"Possibly tonight, if the snow lets up and the roads are clear, but I doubt that will happen. Definitely in the morning thought," Anna replied.

"Cool. Will you make us breakfast?" Santana asked her mother.

"Sure. Go get the recipes that we printed out last night. There on my desk in the study."

Santana left the room, and then returned a minute later with a thick stack of printouts. Rachel was amazed at the amount of vegan recipes that Anna and Santana had printed out. She also found it oddly endearing.

"How did you come to the decision to be a vegan?" Anna asked.

"When I was younger my dads would take me on educational outings, and one of them was a farm. While we were there, I saw the farmer's son cut of a chicken's head. After that, I refused to eat any meat. I started researching, and the more researched the less I liked what I read. When I started ninth grade I decided that I could not eat anything that was came from animals."

While her mother was listening closely to what Rachel was saying, Santana was only pretending to listen. She had unintentionally over-heard Rachel telling Finn the story a few months ago at lunch. Normally she would not even bother putting on the show, but she was in enough trouble with her Mama over how she treated Rachel. She did not need to dig the hole any deeper. She really wished that Quinn would stop blatantly ignoring her. She did not know it yet, but she was in a boatload of trouble too.

Anna asked if there were nutritional benefits to being vegan. Which of course sent Rachel into a long-winded explanation about all the benefits, and cons to her life choice?

Brittany had found the cookies that Anna and Santana baked the previous night, and had started paying attention to the conversation. She was thrilled that Rachel was there but the girl was making her head go wonky so she shoved a cookie into her mouth and then said, "Rachy, you use too many big words. They make my head feel all weird." Unfortunately, she had the misfortune of leaning over the counter next to Anna, who gave her a sharp swat on her butt.

"Ow. Mama that hurt," Brittany whined, as she rubbed her bottom.

"It's supposed to hurt," Anna stated. "That was mean Brittany. Apologize right now."

"Sorry Rachy," Brittany said meekly, and then looked sharply to Quinn who was snickering under her breath.

"I accept your apology," Rachel said, and then looked to the snickering blonde.

"Quinn," Anna said sharply. "You are in no position to be snickering about this."

"What did I do?" Quinn asked once she had stopped snickering.

"Quinn don't," Santana warned, quietly. "We're in enough trouble as it is. Please don't make it worse."

"What did we do?" Quinn asked, genuinely confused.

"She talked to Berry's dad, and knows about the crap we did to her," Santana explained.

"Yes, and after this weekend is over I will be speaking to Judy," Anna said. Quinn did not say anything, but she looked angry. "Britt, I've already talked to Joan, and while you didn't actually do anything, you didn't stop it either."

"How mad is Mom?" Brittany asked.

"She's not. I am not either. We are however very disappointed in you girls," Anna said. "Why don't you girls go upstairs and relax. I'll call you when breakfast is done."

"Yeah alright Mama," Santana said. "Come on guys lets go."

They grabbed their bags on their way up the stairs. Quinn barely made it through Santana's bedroom door, before she said, "Thanks a lot Berry."

"Quinn, it ain't her fault. Lay off," Santana said.

"No I won't," Quinn said. "I don't even know why she's here. Don't we put up with her big mouth enough at school?"

"Quinn, stop it now. This is not her fault. It's ours," Santana said.

"The only reason you're being nice to her is because you don't want a red ass," Quinn snarled.

Santana could not believe that Quinn had just said that in front of Rachel and Brittany, let alone how she was acting period. Sure, she was bitchy and mean, but she was rarely like that when they were outside of school. She did not understand why she was acting like this, but she did know it was more then just Rachel being there.

Rachel was stunned by Quinn's insults, and even more so by her implications. Is that really the only reason Santana was being relatively nice to her; because her mother would spank her if she was not. She should have just listen to her gut yesterday, and stayed at home. They did not want her there, she was sure of it, especially now that she had inadvertently gotten them in trouble. She had the overwhelming feeling that this had just been another one of their stunts. Lore her in, and then crush her. She had to go. She could not stay there any longer. Not with people who hated her.

Brittany was watching the scene un-fold in front of her, un-sure of what to do. This is what had gotten her into trouble. Yes, she had never stopped them. She felt like crap for it, but sometimes she really did not know what to do. That is partly why she wanted Rachel to come Santana's sleepover. To try to get her best friends to see past the diva's hard exterior, and to see what was inside of her.

Brittany directed her attention from the arguing girls, to the tiny brunette just in time to see the tearful girl dart out of the room. "Rachy wait," She yelled.

Santana looked over to her door to see a flash of brown hair running down the stairs. "Shit. Damn it Q," Santana said, and ran out of the room after Rachel. She caught her just as she flung the front door open. "Rachel, wait. Please don't go," She said, as she grabbed her arm.

"No, this was a bad idea, Santana," Rachel said trying to stifle a sob, but allowed Santana to pull her back in the house. "I never should have agreed to come. I knew it was a bad idea."

"No, please stay. Quinn's just being a bitch," Santana pleaded, as she moved her hand down Rachel's arm and gripped her hand. It was that moment that she realized how much the bulling they did, truly affected Rachel. It was the first time she had ever seen the girl cry, and the sight of the tears running down her face broke Santana's heart. Tears welled in her own eyes as she said, "I am really sorry. Do not listen to Quinn. She's just being a bitch."

"Santana," Anna sternly said form behind them. "Go back upstairs."

Santana briefly thought that she was in trouble again. "Mama this isn't…"

"Mija, it's alright," Anna said calmly. "Go upstairs and calm Brittany down, before she hurts Quinn. I could hear her yelling at her from the kitchen." Santana did not want to go until she knew Rachel was going to stay, but she listened to her mother and disappeared up the stairs.

Anna wrapped her arm around the crying girl and said, "Come help me with breakfast sweetie."

* * *

><p>Anna had not been joking. Santana could hear Brittany yelling at Quinn as soon as she reached the landing, and she froze in shock because of it. Brittany rarely yelled at anybody. She hardly ever told anybody off either, and even when she did, she was so calm about it. She approached her bedroom door softly, and listened to Brittany yell for a minute.<p>

"I am so pist off right now. You had no right to say that to Santana at all, let alone in front of Rachel. What happens between her and Mama is their business not ours. You're just mad because you're going to have to start doing what your mom says again. As for Rachel, I wanted her to come. Rachy always looks so lonely, so whatever you damn problem with her is get over it. I will not let you ruin this weekend."

In spite of the situation, Santana chuckled at the shocked but guilty look Quinn was giving Brittany, but she was also sympathetic. If she had been in Quinn's place, she probably would be shitting herself at the scary look the angry blonde was giving her. Her eyes widened however when the angry blonde yell, "God Quinn you're such a bitch."

Quinn looked like Brittany had just punched her, and then she suddenly looked angry. "That's funny coming from somebody who follows the queen bitch herself around like a puppy."

'_Oh hell no,_' Santana thought and then rushed into her room, before Brittany had a chance to attack Quinn. "Q, back off," She said, and then pushed Brittany onto her bed. She quietly said, "You need to calm down, Britt."

"But S," Brittany whined and then started to cry. "She made Rachy leave."

"No she didn't. Rachel's downstairs with Mama, and she can hear everything you are yelling at Quinn," she said, hoping that it would calm her down.

"You got her to stay?" Brittany asked hopefully, as she wiped the tears off her face.

"No, but hopefully Mama will be able to," Santana said, and then turned around to face Quinn. "What's your malfunction Q?"

"I don't have one, but apparently you two do," Quinn answered calmly.

"What the hell does that mean?" Santana asked.

"It means that all of a sudden Brittany wants to be friends with Man-hands freaking Berry," Quinn said. "She wants that loud mouth conceded diva to come to our sleepover, and she has you so damn whipped that you agreed to it despite the fact that you hate the midget. Then seemingly over night, you suddenly want us to be nice to her, and here the real reason is that your mom made you. Not to mention, that the damn dwarf has gotten us all into trouble. That's my problem."

Santana was trying hard to keep her anger in check, because she knew that Rachel could hear them. She took a deep breath and then calmly said, "Your right. The only reason I agreed to let Berry come was because Brittany wanted it, and the only reason I was trying to be nice to her was because I would get into more trouble with Mama if she found out I was still being mean to her."

Santana had to pause, because she suddenly felt chocked up. She took a deep breath, and then continued, "None of that matters right now Quinn. I just saw how we make Rachel feel every time we are mean to her. I saw Rachel crying and honestly, it sucked. I talked with Mama for two damn hours last night, and it still did not register in my head how much it affected her. How much we affected her. Until now, and the worst part is that I do not even know why. We treated her like crap for no reason at all other then we could."

Tears were leaking out of Santana's eyes, as she spoke. Quinn had seen Santana cry before, mostly when she was drunk, but this was the first time it had made her want to cry as well. She collapsed into Santana's beanbag chair and covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt her feeling. I was just mad because she got us into trouble."

"She didn't get us into trouble Q," Brittany said. "We got us into trouble."

"No, Britt. Me and Quinn got us into trouble," Santana said.

"Mama was right San. I never stopped you from doing it," Brittany said.

"Damn it. It doesn't matter whose fault it is," Santana said. "The fact is we did it, and now we have to fix it."

"How?" Quinn asked.

"For starters, you need to go downstairs and apologize to her, and convince her to stay," Santana said and then got a sly grin on her face. "Then we'll show her a good time this weekend, and make her forget all the shitty things we did to her."

* * *

><p>Helping Anna with breakfast was apparently code for Rachel to sit and drink a cup of mint tea as she calmed down, while Anna prepared the food. The kitchen was silent except for the muffled voices from upstairs coming from upstairs, the occasional sniffle from Rachel, and the bustling sounds of Anna's cooking.<p>

Rachel appreciated being able to sit in silence, but what she really wanted was to go home. She had been so optimistic for the weekend, and all of that optimism had been squashed in less then an hour. She felt that it might have been fine if her fathers had not told Anna about any of it. She did not know why they had to say anything at all. Both of them had promised her (against their better judgment) that they would not a big deal of what the girls were doing to her. Rachel had rationalized that it would make her a better woman and actor because of it. Sure, it hurt like hell every time she was teased, tripped, given a slushy facial, or called a mean name, but she tried to see the upside of it.

At that moment, she was feeling so much worse then any other time. As much as she rationalized that it would make her a stronger, she always felt like an emotional wreak afterwards. This time however was different they had dangled the possibility of friends in front of her like a piece of vegan candy, only to have it ripped away just as she reached it.

As Rachel gathered herself, Anna collected her own thoughts. It was one thing for her to know that her daughter and her friends were making life hell for a classmate, but it was another thing entirely for her to see the damage first hand.

She could not believe that her baby girl had ever made anybody feel like crap. When she had gone into the kitchen the previous night to confront Santana, she had been hoping that she would tell her that it was all a big misunderstanding. Boy had she been wrong. Anna replayed that conversation over in her head again.

"_Santana, what is this I am hearing about you bulling Rachel Berry?" Anna said from the doorway._

_Felix looked between his guilty looking daughter and his stern looking wife with confusion. "What is your Mama talking about Santana?" he asked softly._

"_Look, it's not as bad as it sounds," Santana said, jumping directly into defense mode._

_Felix did not like the sound of that. "What isn't as bad as it sounds?" he asked sternly._

_When Santana did not elaborate for herself, Anna did it for her. "Apparently Santana and Quinn have been bulling Rachel, among others," she said. "What I want to know is how and why?"_

_Santana looked down at her food, and tried desperately not to look into her Papi's eyes. She could not handle the disappointment she was sure she would find there. She picked up her chopsticks and started to shove as much food into her mouth that could fit._

"_That won't work Santana. You are going to have to us soon or later ," Anna said, and then sat down next to the teenager._

"_What? I'm just hungry," Santana unconvincingly said, around a mouth full of food._

"_Oh good. You can talk to us with your mouth full," Felix said sardonically. "That means you can eat and explain what your Mama is talking about."_

_Santana's shoulders slumped and she started to push her food around her plate. She knew that any she played it she was going to be in trouble, but if she came clean then she could possible lessen the punishment and prevent future punishment if they found out she had lied._

"_It really isn't as bad as it sounds," Santana said nonchalantly, and then popped a piece of General Tso chicken into her mouth._

"_Do you really believe that?" Felix asked sadly. He did not know what was going on, but he really did not like her attitude towards it. Bulling was bulling no matter how small and simple it may seem. It all hurt the exact same way._

_The disappointed tone in her Papi's voice, made Santana falter for a moment. She felt like it really was not that big of a deal, but she also realized that she was on thin ice and had to play her cards right. Her parents were usually fair when it came to handing out punishments, but she did not want to give them a reason to come down hard on her. She really did not want that._

"_Yeah I really do believe that it isn't as bad as you are thinking," Santana replied confidently._

"_Then let us be the judge of that," Anna said, "Tell us what you've done."_

"_I'm sure Rachel's dad told you all about it," Santana said snidely._

_Anna ignored the snide remark, and said, "Hiram told me what he knew, but I want to hear it from you."_

"_And I just want to know what is going on period," Felix added, and then sternly said, "Now Santana."_

"_Fine alright," Santana snapped. "We made up a few names, and started a few rumors."_

"_Like what?" Felix asked._

"_Like man-hands, tranny, dwarf, treasure trail, and we have started a rumor that Rachel has a penis, among other things," Santana replied quietly._

_Felix pinched the bridge of his nose. "Barely an hour ago you informed us of your sexual orientation, and now you're telling us that you tease and make up rumors about somebody's sexual identity. How could you do that Mija?"_

"_I don't know Papi," Santana lied. In all honesty, she did know the reason why she did the things that she did. To protect her and Brittany from the same scrutiny that they put Rachel through._

_There's more Santana," Anna stated. "What else have you done to Rachel."_

_Santana knew exactly what her mother was asking about, and it sent her defense mode into full gear. "Look, the slushy attacks weren't me. I never took part in them. That was all Quinn. I would much rather punch somebody then throw something that could splash back on me."_

"_But you never stopped her, and that is just as bad as if you had thrown the slushy yourself," Anna replied._

"_Look you don't know what that place is like," Santana snapped, suddenly becoming very frustrated with them. "I do it to survive. If you think what Q and I have done is bad then you don't want to know what to hear about the rest of the school."_

"_I'm sure it isn't as bad as your making it seem," Anna mimicked Santana's previous statement._

"_It is," Santana yelled. "From our first day of middle school we heard horror stories about McKinley. The slushy wars, and how if you were not on top you got a slushy facial daily. That's why I joined the cheerleading squad. Being on the middle school squad was a sure fire way to get onto the Cheerios. I hate cheerleading. I only did it to protect Brittany."_

"_Why is the first we're hearing about this? I'm sure if it is as bad as your making it seem then your brother and sisters would have told us about it," Felix inquired._

"_I don't know," Santana said. "You'll have to ask Sammy, Laya, and Lex why they never told you. Maybe it wasn't like that when they went to school."_

"_Why Rachel?" Anna asked._

"_Because Rachel's a freaking weeble wobble. No matter what we did or said to her she always gets back up stronger then before, it doesn't faze her."_

_Santana finished her feeble explanation and then visibly cringed at the almost identical looks that were being pointed in her direction. They were a cross between anger and disappointment. It was not a look that she had gotten often, but it was a look she was sure she would never forget. Shit. She was in more trouble then she thought._

_A sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She understood why her parents were angry with her. She knew she probably should not have done all of that shit to Rachel, but she felt like it really was not as bad as it seemed. Rachel took it all in stride, and it did not seem to affect her. No harm, no foul. Right?_

_Wrong._

"_If you truly believe that then you are sadly mistaken," Felix said. His words were spoken calmly, but his voice spoke volumes. It mirrored his facial features. Angry and disappointed._

"_Are you going to make me cancel the sleepover?" Santana asked._

"_No," Anna replied._

_A glimmer of hope shined in Santana's eyes. "So I'm not in trouble?"_

"_Nice try," Anna replied. "If it was just going to you, Quinn, and Brittany then I would make you cancel it, but because Rachel is coming I won't. Your father and I need to talk privately about this, so we are going into the study. Finish your dinner, and then start the next batch of cookies. I want to talk to you some more before bed."_

"_Fine," Santana grumbled, and then stuffed some cold rice into her mouth._

Her husband calling her name from the staircase brought Anna out of the memory. "In the kitchen Felix," She replied.

"Honey, what happened to make Brittany yell like that. It's kind of scary," he said as he walked into the kitchen, and then noticed Rachel sitting at the island. "Hello. You must be Rachel."

"Yes sir," Rachel said as she hastily wiped away any leftover tears from her face. "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine young lady," Felix said to her and then gave his wife a good morning kiss. "Why is Brittany yelling?"

"Because Quinn was upset about being in trouble and took her anger out on poor Rachel," Anna answered. "Brittany got upset when Rachel tried to leave. Hence the yelling."

"I see said the blind man," Felix quipped, and then turned back around to address Rachel. "You must mean a lot to Brittany if she is yelling at Quinn like that."

"Do you really think so, sir," Rachel said hopeful.

"I do," Felix said as she took a seat next to her. "I've known Brittany since the day she was born. There has only been a few times that I have heard her raise her voice in anger, and each time it was because Santana's older siblings were picking on her. Hell she even kicked Felix Jr. in the cojones the one because he stole all of Santana's dolls and refused to return them.

"Of course what he isn't telling you is how much trouble Britt got into when her mother found out about it," Anna said.

"Yes well, that's not the point," Felix said. "The point is that that Brittany rarely gets angry, but when she does it because of somebody she cares for."

A hopeful smile formed on Rachel's face. "That does not seem very Brittany like, but I am looking forward to getting to know her. I just wish Quinn would give me a chance.

"Yes I would hope so too, as well as my daughter," Felix said. "I would like to apologize to you for my daughter's behavior. It was uncalled for, and I can assure you that she is being punished for it."

"That really isn't necessary sir," Rachel said. Yes, she did not like what they had done to her, but she also did not want to see them in trouble either. "While I admit that what they have done to me has hurt me very much, but I don't want to see them in trouble over it. I understand that if they did not do then it would be happening to them. Quinn took a lot of ridicule last year, and now that none of them has the protection that comes with the Cheerio uniform, it is going to be the same. So I believe that they have suffered enough, however as I already said I just wish Quinn would give me a chance."

"That is very noble of you," Felix said. "Let me ask you this. Have any of the girls been mean or degrading toward you or anybody else since that has happened?"

Rachel sat quietly. She did not want to get them into any more trouble by saying yes, but she did not want to lie either. The choice was taken out of her hands when Felix said, "Silence speaks volumes my dear. Santana is being punished, because she has a lesson to learn. A very important lesson."

"A lesson I believe Santana is already learning," Anna added.

"It does not make them any less angry with me," Rachel said sadly.

"That's not true," Quinn said from the doorway. "Can we talk, Berry?"

Rachel looked hesitant but nodded her head yes. She slipped off the stool and followed Quinn into the living room. She had barely sat down on the couch when she hastily said, "I'm sorry I got you into trouble."

"Don't be. It wasn't your fault," Quinn said. "I'm sorry that I said that about you. It was wrong of me."

The tone in Quinn's voice was almost unreadable. Rachel was not sure, if she actually meant the apology or if she was just saying it to get her to stay. Since she was un-able to tell if it was a genuine apology or not she opted to not out right accept it. Instead, she sadly said, "Thank you for your apology. It means a lot to me, however I still feel like I should return home. I do not want to cause anymore trouble."

The sadness portrayed in Rachel's voice pulled at Quinn's heartstrings. She suddenly realized what Santana had been talking about. Rachel sounded so sad and lost, and it was because of what they had done to her. This lost girl had offered her friendship to her so many times since the previous year, and she had thrown them back in her face. Damn she had really screwed up.

"I wasn't finished Rachel," Quinn said softly. The surprise written on Rachel's face, at the use of her real name did not go un-noticed by the blonde. She had to stop and think if she had ever used it before. "I also wanted to apologize for all of the crap I threw your way. You didn't deserve that. Despite being offered your friendship, I never once tried to see past your awful clothing and obnoxious diva ways to see the real you. I also didn't allow myself to see how all that crap was effecting you. For that I am truly sorry."

Rachel's lips curled into a soft smile. She had no trouble believing that Quinn meant that apology, and it made her very happy to hear it. Maybe things would not be so bad now. If she could just show them that she that there is more to her then her clothing and 'obnoxious diva ways' then maybe her life will be much better and happier. She suddenly felt a new determination. Rachel Berry was strong, focused, and driven. She did not quit; she persevered. She went there for a reason, to put the past behind them, to show them that they were wrong about her, to make friends, and damn it she was not going to leave until her task was complete. "I accept you apology."

"So that means you're going to stay?" Quinn asked, hopeful.

"Yes. I have decided to stay," Rachel replied.

"Good, cause you know there's like a foot of snow out there, so the only way you were getting home was to walk," Quinn joked, making Rachel laugh.

* * *

><p>Felix watched the girls retreating forms disappear, and then turned to his wife. "I hope we're doing the right thing. I really don't want this to backfire on us."<p>

"It won't dear. It's a good plan," Anna replied.

Felix was not so sure. Yes, the plan had been his idea, but if Quinn's mother did not get on board with it then would wind up causing more problems between the girls. He looked out the kitchen window at the falling snow. "I hope the snow lets up soon. Maybe it is a sign."

"A sign for what dear?" Anna asked as she placed the last batch of blueberry vegan pancakes onto the platter.

"A sign that we are not suppose to leave them home alone this weekend," Felix replied.

"Maybe it is, but before you go cancelling all of our plans lets see how today goes," Anna said.

"You're right, as always," Felix said fondly.

"And don't you ever forget it," Anna said, and then gave him a chaste kiss. "Will you please go tell San and Britt that breakfast is ready."

"Sure," Felix said and then walked out of the kitchen. He passed the living room on his way upstairs, and saw that Rachel and Quinn were talking peacefully, which made him very happy. His smile dropped however, when he entered Santana's bedroom and saw her lying on her bed with Brittany in what he considered a lover's cuddle.

They were lying on their sides in the center of the bed. Brittany had her face buried into Santana's chest, with Santana's chin resting on her head. Their arms were wrapped around each other with their legs entwined, and he was sure that there was not a single inch between the two of them.

Felix suddenly became very confused and angry. Santana had told him barley twelve hours before that there was nothing going on between the two of them. Had she lied to him? Before last night he would had said no without a second thought, but now he was not so sure.

He cleared his throat to get their attention and then said, "Breakfast is ready. Brittany why don't you go help Anna set the table?"

"Okay Papi," Brittany said, not missing the seriousness in his tone.

Once Brittany had disappeared down the stairs Santana asked, "What's wrong Papi?"

Felix was not sure where he could begin without potentially upsetting his daughter. He decided on the playing it cool method. "You and Brittany seemed very close lying there when I came in."

Santana realized immediately what her Papi's un-spoken words were. "Papi, I told you last night that nothing is going on between Britts and me."

"The two of you were cuddling like lovers Mija," Felix insisted.

"Papi," Santana said, drawling out his name in irritation. "I already told you that we were, you know, lovers, but were not anymore. Brittany is with Artie now, and besides that's how we always cuddle. She'll cuddle like that with everybody if you let her."

Felix had to admit that there was no reason for her to lie about it. "Alright I believe you, but when your mother and I return home on Monday we are going to sit down and have a long talk."

"About what?" Santana asked. She really did not like how that had sounded.

"About everything we learned last," Felix said. He could see that Santana had something to say, but he did not want to get into it with heart that moment. He put his hand up and said, "Monday Mija. Right now let's go and eat."

"Fine," Santana grumbled as she followed her father down the stairs.

* * *

><p>Breakfast was eaten in silence, except for Brittany's mindless ramblings, occasional witty comments, and not so subtle jabs, like 'Lord Tubbington is angry at Quinn because she mad Rachy cry' and 'now Lord Tubbington won't talk to me for a week because I didn't stop Q from being a booby-head' directed at Quinn, much to the table's amusement.<p>

During their highly amusing meal, Rachel noticed that Anna was cutting up Brittany's pancakes for her. She thought it was odd for Brittany to have an adult cut her food for her, but chose not to question it.

Once they were all finished eating, the girls helped to wash the dishes. Rachel noticed that anytime Brittany got near a knife, Santana would pull it away from her before she had a chance to touch it. She could not understand why Brittany was not allowed to touch a butter knife. She decided to ask Santana about it at a latter time.

After all of the dishes were cleaned, dried, and put away, Brittany dragged them all upstairs and tried to convince them to go outside and play in the snow. Rachel was more then eager to play with her, but it took a little more convincing on Santana and Quinn's part. In the end, Brittany got her way, and then disappeared into Santana's large walk-in-closet and produced four snowsuits. Each of them magically fitting the person she handed it to.

Santana saw Rachel's quizzical look, and answered her un-spoken question. "The one you have is my old one. I am not sure why it is still in there, but once November rolls around Brittany makes us keep our winter gear handy in my closet.

"Oh, for a second there, I thought Brittany might be a witch," Rachel joked with a soft chuckle.

A true and genuine smile from the diva was not something Santana saw very often, and it was never directed at her. A pang of guilt settled in her chest at the realization that she was partly the reason for that. She did not want to dwell on that fact however. Instead, she decided that she would never again be the reason why Rachel wasn't wearing one.

Rachel noticed that a soft smile had formed on Santana's face as well. While Santana had rarely seen a smile from the diva, Rachel had only seen a real smile from Santana once. It was something so small, but it helped calm Rachel's insecurities in a big way. She was happy that Santana was giving her a chance, even if the girl had originally been forced into doing it.

They finished dressing in silence, and then twenty minutes later they were on their way into the backyard. Rachel was amazed by the Lopez's yard. There was a large wooden swing set with an attached playhouse of to the left, situated a quarter of the way down the long two acre yard. Woods lined the left side of the property, just behind the swing set. Off to the right was an in-ground pool, enclosed by a glass that was attached between the main house, and the pool house.

She could make out a small pond of the left, just a few feet from the porch. Heavy wet snow blanketed everything, making it nearly impossible to tell the rest of the yard features. She was silently hoping that she would be here when spring rolled around, so she could see the full effect of the yard. She was sure it would be an amazing site.

Santana lead them around the back of the pool house, where a medium sized shed was sitting. Her and Brittany disappeared into the shed and returned a minute later caring four round sleds, and four snowboards. Brittany handed them each a sled, while Santana handed them each a snowboard.

Rachel eyed the snowboard wearily, unsure if she want to attempt to use it, of if she wanted to pass on that experience.

"Come on Midget. You'll have a lot of fun on it. Just give it a chance," Santana insisted.

Rachel took the offered snowboard from Santana and started to follow in Brittany and Quinn direction. During the short walk to the back of the yard, Rachel mused about Santana's nickname for her. It was not a new one, but the tone behind it was new. She felt like she should be insulted by jab at her height, especially considering that she was not much shorter then Santana, however the way Santana said it made her heart flutter. It was weird, and she could not figure out why it was happening. The only other times she had felt like that was when she had been with Finn, Jessie, and even Puck during their brief courtship. She immediately dismissed the idea that romantic feelings were the reason for her fluttery heart. She was straight after all, and as far as she knew, Santana was definitely into guys. No, that is how friends make you feel, she declared to herself.

She was brought out of her musing when they reached the end of the yard, which was at the top of a gradual hill. It was just steep enough to create a nice speed as they went down.

Brittany was already making it up the hill with her purple sled, and Quinn had just reached the bottom of the long hill with her baby blue sled. Santana was strapping her booted feet into her snowboard. "Come on Midge, strap your feet in, and I'll go down with you."

Rachel's heart fluttered again at the shorten use of Santana's nickname. Maybe it was just that she was happy to have Santana speaking to her in a kind was that was making her heart flutter like that. Whatever the reason, Rachel liked the feeling, and did not want it to stop.

Brittany watched the two of them interact as she climbed back up the hill. Over the last few months, she had caught Santana staring at Rachel. At first she had just thought that it was because of her distaste for the diva, but the more she caught her doing it, the more she began to realize that Santana might have a crush on the girl. It had confused her at first because Santana was being just as mean to Rachel, but then she thought that maybe Santana didn't even know that she was crushing on Rachel. That is the second reason for this weekend. She knew it was a long shot, but she hoped that if they could all became friends then Santana would realize her crush on Rachel, and then make the girl fall in love with her. Of course if she was wrong and it was all in her head (which she knew was a very real possibility), then at least they made it right with Rachel.

As she neared the top of the hill, she noticed the soft smile grace Rachel's lips when Santana called her Midge. When Rachel started strapping her feet into the snowboard at Santana's insistence, she knew that she had been right. Now if she could just get Quinn to chill out a little bit more, and really give Rachel a chance then her plan would work perfectly.

Quinn wasn't completely thrilled with Rachel being there, but she had softened a little bit after their little talk in the living room. She was willing to give Rachel a chance, as long as Rachel didn't do anything to irritate her.

After Rachel went down the hill with Santana she was eager to do it again, and soon all four of them were seeing who could go down the hill the fastest. The drama that had happened a few hours before were quickly forgotten, and after awhile they lost count of who had the most races.

After they had grown tired of snowboarding, they made their way back up the yard to build a snowwoman. Which had turned into a snowball fight when Santana tossed a snowball at Brittany, who in return tossed one a Quinn, who then threw one at Rachel. Before they knew, it snowballs where flying in every direction.

Their laughter was heard all the way into the house where Anna and Felix stood watching the scene unfold through the kitchen window, relishing in the sweet sound.

"See, it's working out for the best," Anna said. "And look the snows slowing down. We should be able to leave early in the morning, and still be able to make our seven o'clock appointment."

"That sounds great, but do you really think leaving them here alone is a good idea?" Felix asked.

"I think we need to give them a chance to bond without hovering parents watching to make sure there acting appropriate," Anna said. "Come on dear. Let's start making lunch for them."


	3. Feelings

Disclaimer: I don't not own Glee

AN: Sorry for the extended wait, and for the shortness of it.

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Feelings<p>

After the girls had finished eating lunch they decided to snuggle under warm blankets in the living room and watch movies. Brittany dragged Rachel into the living room and pushed her onto the loveseat, however instead of sitting next to her she sat down on the couch. Santana and Quinn walked in a few minutes later each carrying a rectangular container of cookies with a bowl of popcorn sitting on top of it, and a bottle of water for each of them.

Santana walked over to Rachel put the vegan popcorn and cookies on the end table, and then proceeded to pull out bags of candy from her pants pockets. "Here Midge. All of this stuff is vegan."

"Really?" Rachel asked. She was touched that Santana had gone through all that trouble.

"Yeah. Don't think too much into it. B would kill me if I didn't have vegan shit for you to eat," Santana said falling back into her bitch persona. She cringed at the sad look that Rachel now wore, as well as the bitchy tone in her voice. She hadn't meant to sound so bitchy. Hell she didn't know why she was always doing that. She even did it with Brittany sometimes. "Sorry, didn't mean to sound so bitchy."

Rachel looked shocked at the sincere apology, as well as Santana's apparent bi-polar-ness. Santana and Quinn had Rachel feeling like her emotions were on a wild rollercoaster, and she had only been with them for seven hours. She was sure that if they kept it up, she would be an emotional wreak by the end of the weekend.

"I think you broke her, Sanny," Brittany giggled from the couch.

Santana turned to look at the giggling blonde, and what she saw confused her. Brittany was sprawled out on the couch with her head in Quinn's lap. Brittany always cuddled with Santana when they watched movies; never with Quinn. Why the hell was this time any different? Her first thought was that maybe Brittany didn't want to cuddle with Santana because they weren't together like that anymore, which she quickly snuffed. Brittany and her were doing great since the 'break up'. They were finally back in the best friend territory, where it isn't awkward to be around each other.

Dismissing her initial panic, she looked around the room for another place to sit. Her stomach dropped when she realized that there were only two places for her to sit. In her Papi's reclining chair, and next to Rachel on the loveseat. She had two choices, she could either sit down in the recliner and risk hurting Rachel's feeling, or she could sit next to Rachel. A week ago she would have sat down in the recliner with out giving it a second shot, but now she didn't want to hurt Rachel's feelings, which scared the crap out of her.

So what changed? Besides her mother making her be nice to the diva. Oh yeah. She saw the girl crying. "_Crap," _Santana though to herself._ "I think I'm starting to like her."_

"I think they broke each other, B," Quinn commented, making Brittany giggle again.

Santana snapped out of her stupor, and glared at her best friends. She was definitely going to get shit from Quinn for zoning out like that. She sat down on next to Rachel, as she silently cursed the petite diva for making her confounding her feelings, and making her second guess herself.

"Britts, you pick the first movie," Santana said irritated, as she pulled a throw blanket of the back of the couch. She subconsciously placed half of the blanket over Rachel's legs, and then leaned over her to grab the popcorn and cookies. She placed the popcorn on Rachel's lap, and then opened the container of vegan cookies. She took a bite of a sugar cookie, and then looked up to find her friends staring at her. "What the hell are you two staring at?" Santana snapped, clearly annoyed by her friends. Rachel jumped at the sudden booming voice. Santana immediately felt bad for scaring her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Rachel gave Santana a shocked look, which mad Santana realize what she had just said. "_Damn it_," She thought. "_What the hell is wrong with me?_" Allowed she said, "B, pick a movie already."

Un-effected by Santana's sharp tone, Brittany happily said, "Okay S," before bounding over to the DVD cabinet. She was glad to see that her best friend was taking the bait that she was dangling in front of her. Even though she wanted Santana to fall in love with Rachel, she would be very happy if Santana just became friends with the girl. She just hoped that Santana wouldn't figure out what she was doing before Santana had a chance to really get to know Rachel. If that little show Santana had just put on for her, she was sure that one weekend would be enough time for Rachel to worm her way into Rachel's life, even if diva didn't realize what was happening.

Brittany chose The Little Mermaid: The New Beginnings, which of course lead them to watching the original Little Mermaid, and the sequal. Brittany got so caught up in the movie's that she failed to notice that Santana was staring intently at Rachel, who also missed Santana's attention as she was caught up in the movies as well.

Quinn however did notice Santana's staring, and found herself staring at the Latina in confusion and irritation. She was trying to figure out why Rachel had suddenly caught the attention of, not one but both of her friends. Brittany she could easily figure out. The blonde liked everybody, and had been bring the diva's name into more and more conversations lately. She should have figured that something like this would happen soon or later.

It was Santana who was throwing her for a loop. Quinn did understand that how they treated Rachel was wrong, and she never realized how much of what they did to her really affected her. What she didn't understand was how Santana was treating Rachel. She seemed to be going out of her way to be nice to her. Sure, they needed to stop going out of their way to make the girl's life hell, but that didn't mean they had to go to extended lengths to be nice to her. What was really worrying her was the look that Santana was wearing. It was the same look that she had worn for the last two years, every time she looked at Brittany. She may not be in love with Rachel, but she was definitely feeling something and was trying to figure out what she was feeling. Either way, the look meant that Rachel was going to be sticking around for awhile, and that didn't sit well with the blonde.

The truth was that Quinn screwed up big time at the beginning of the school year. In her quest to fill the void that was created by the birth, and subsequent adoption of her daughter, she trampled over one of her best friends to regain her HBIC spot. It took month's to re-build their friendship, and she was afraid that she would be tossed aside if Rachel became a permanent fixture in Santana's life. She could not let that happen. She needed Brittany and Santana in her life. They were the only thing helping her to keep her sanity.

With that knowledge, she had two options to ensure that she keeps her friends. She could push Rachel away, and make them choose between the two of them, which would most likely blow up in her face, or she could give Rachel an honest chance. The latter was the best solution to her potential problem.

Romantic feelings were far from the reason why Santana was staring at Rachel. It was more to do with her feeling anything for the girl at all. More so the notion that she didn't want to potentially hurt her feelings. She knew that she never wanted to see Rachel cry again, and she definitely didn't want to be the cause of those tears. What was throwing her was that the chair was something so small, and she wasn't even sure that Rachel would have been hurt if she had sat in the recliner. Not to mention the fact that if it had been anybody else, besides Brittany, she wouldn't have even given it a second thought. She would have just sat in the damn recliner. So why Rachel? What made her different?

As the closing credits for The Little Mermaid two rolled across the screen, Santana realized that she had spent the last three hours with her focus solely on Rachel. She hadn't even realized that Brittany had changed the movies the second time. It freaked her out to be analyzing her feelings about the midget like that. She hadn't even analyzed her feeling for Brittany that much and she had been in love with the tall blonde.

"Q, pick the next movie," Santana told her friend, as she stood up from the loveseat. "I'm going to see if Mama needs help with dinner."

"I'll help," Rachel said, and then tried to stand up as well, but was stopped by the Latina.

"No, you just sit and watch the movie with Quinn and Brittany," Santana told her, and then quickly left the room with the two empty popcorn bowls.

"Did I do something wrong?" Rachel asked, clearly confused by Santana's hasty retreat.

Brittany giggled as she got off of the couch, and then walked over to the brunette. She curled up on the loveseat, using Rachel's as a pillow and then said, "You didn't do anything wrong. You're doing everything right."

Rachel looked over to Quinn, hoping that the other blonde could decipher what Brittany had meant, but Quinn just shrugged her shoulders at her.

"Pick a movie Quinn. Sanny's going to be a while," Brittany said, and then rolled onto her back. "I'm really glad that you came Rachy," she said, and then whispered, "I know Quinn was being a big mean-y earlier, but I think she knows not to do that again."

Rachel smiled down at the blonde and said softly, "I hope so. I'm really glad that you made Santana invite me, as well."

Quinn smile fondly at the pair, as the talked about what they were going to do for the rest of the weekend. She was always jealous that they could so easily find something to be happy about. She couldn't fault Brittany for this quality, because it's just who the blonde is. In fact it was quality she had grown to love the blonde for. The same quality in Rachel however, infuriated her. It was almost like Rachel was throwing her happiness in her face. She wished that she could be like that, but no matter how hard she tried, she just ended up feeling worse. Which made her hate Rachel more. Especially since the adoption of her daughter was finalized, and she realized just how much that beautiful little bundle had impacted her life. She knew taking her frustrations out on Rachel wasn't fair, but the girl was a daily reminder of what she gave away, and who she was desperate to see again, to hold again. So for Quinn to see Rachel finding happiness, even when she was upset, made her angry, sad, and jealous all at the same time.

Quinn wanted... No needed, Brittany and Santana to stay in her life, but she couldn't help but wonder if she would be able to befriend Rachel. Her emotions were all over the place, especially with Beth's first birthday coming up in a few weeks. Could she keep her shit in check long enough to cement a friendship with her? She honestly didn't know, but she had to try.

She snapped out of her thoughts, and sauntered over to the DVD cabinet. Thankfully, neither Brittany nor Rachel noticed that she was in a stupor. She picked a movie at random, and popped it into the DVD player without paying attention to what the movie was. As she sat back down on the couch, Rachel let out a loud squeal of excitement. She looked over at the excited girl, and then followed her line of vision, straight to the TV. Her jaw dropped open when she saw the title of the movie, Funny Girl.

Three things rapidly filtered through her mind. What the hell where the odds of her randomly picking Rachel's favorite movie? Then she realized that this could be a perfect opening for her to start befriending Rachel. Finally, she wondered why the hell Santana had this movie at all. She filed that last question away to ask her later. She had to pay attention to the movie now, because she was sure that Rachel would go on about it after it was over.

* * *

><p>Anna turned away from the stove when she heard her daughter shuffle into the kitchen. She could immediately tell that something was troubling the teen, by the distinct look she was wearing. It was the same look of confusion and irritation that she had worn since she was a baby. "What's wrong, Mija?"<p>

Santana gave her mother a surprised, but slightly annoyed look. She never could figure out how her mother always knew when there was something on her mind, and it annoyed the hell out of her. She wanted to know so that she could stop doing whatever it was that was giving her away. She loved talking to her Mama, but sometimes she just wasn't ready to talk to her, or didn't want her Mama to know about it at all.

Santana sighed as she climbed onto a stool, and then deposited the nearly empty popcorn bowls off to the side. She then grunted and started to bang her head off of the counter top, hoping in vain that it would clear some of the confusion from her mind.

"Santana stop doing that, before you give yourself a concussion," Anna told her.

"Maybe that's what I'm trying to do," Santana mumbled.

"And why do you want to give yourself a concussion?" Anna asked amused.

"Because if I have a concussion, then I might not be so fucking confused," Santana smartly.

Anna ignored her daughter's foul language. Choosing instead to ask, "What are you so confused about?"

"Rachel freaking Berry," Santana grumbled into the counter top.

Anna sat onto the stool next to her daughter and asked, "What exactly is confusing you about Rachel?"

"My feelings for her," Santana grumbled again, feeling almost embarrassed by saying it allowed. She didn't realize how that simple sentence could be construed.

"Oh," Anna said, and then, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, asked, "So you have a crush on her?"

Santana threw her upper body away from the counter top, almost falling off as she did, and practically yelled, "What? No! I do NOT have a crush on Berry." She was stunned by her mother's assumption, as well as how the question rolled off of her Mama tongue. It actually hit home that she was out and that her parent were okay with it.

Anna on the other hand was confused. Santana had just said she was confused by her feelings for Rachel. What other feelings could be confusing her? "What feelings are you talking about?"

"All of them," Santana screeched, as if that would explain it. She sighed at her mother's confused look, and then mumbled, "You were right."

Anna smiled at Santana. "Now that's something every parent wants to hear," she joked, and then asked seriously, "What am I right about?"

"What we said and did to her; did hurt her," Santana said quietly.

"Okay Mija," Anna began. "I am really glad that you are finally seeing the era of your ways, but I am still confused. Why are you confused about your feelings?" She was starting to become frustrated with her daughter. She wanted to help her, but she couldn't do that when Santana wasn't giving her a straight answer.

"I didn't sit in the freaking recliner like I wanted to, because I was afraid that Rachel would be hurt if I didn't sit next to her," Santana said, slightly hysterical. "What the hell makes her so special that I actually give a damn?"

Anna wanted to laugh at the hysterical tone in her daughter's voice, but she reframed. She got up to stir the sauce, and then poured the spaghetti into the pot of boiling water. As she did that, she contemplated her daughter's confusion. She had also thought of her daughter as being very empathetic, but after learning about her daughter's school life, she realized that the empathy extended only to Brittany. She wondered how, even with them talking all of the time, she had managed to miss this side of her little girl? Had Santana lied about everything they talked about?

Those questions would have to wait to be discussed. She needed to help her daughter work through her confusion, and possibly help her because a better person. She turned back towards Santana and asked, "So you are confused that you care about what Rachel is feeling? Right?"

"Yeah. Pretty much," Santana huffed.

Anna sat down next to her again and said, "Mija, worrying about other people's feeling is normal. You're supposed to be feeling that."

"That's not me though. I don't give a bat shit about other people's feelings. It's just not who I am," Santana insisted.

"That is not true, Mija. You go out of your way to make Brittany happy. To make sure that none of her feelings are hurt, and I know that you care about your family. When Hiram told me what you were doing to your classmates, I couldn't believe it. I thought to myself, he can't be talking about my caring child. I didn't believe it until I saw your guilty look when I came into the kitchen last night. In that moment I became so angry and heartbroken because I knew it was true. I'm beginning to realize that there are two sides of you. There is my Santana, who is sweet, caring, witty, foul mouth, hot tempered, and then there is the persona that you put on at school, who locks her feelings away and allows all of her worst traits out, but none of the good. Am I right?"

Santana nodded her head slightly.

As Anna stood up to stir the spaghetti again, she said, "Last night you called Rachel a weeble wobble, because no matter what you threw at her she always got back up again. I think that you girls chose Rachel as your primary victim, because she never showed you how much it hurt her. There for you never had to feel guilty or bad in general for doing it. Today you saw for the first time how much the name calling, teasing, and the slushy facials really make Rachel feel, which now makes it impossible to keep you own feelings bottled up."

Yep, that totally made sense to Santana. Crap. She hated when her mother did that. She always seemed to know exactly what to say to help her work through something. She was actually surprised that she was able to keep her school life, as well as her sexual orientation from her mom. Hell the older woman had even known when Santana had lost her virginity to Puck. She had come home and barely thirty minutes later Anna had come into her room to comfort her.

"I guess you're right. That made a lot of sense," Santana said, and then a look of sheer terror crossed her beautiful features. "Do you think that I'm going to be worrying about everybody's feeling now?"

Anna did laugh at her daughter's antics this time. She couldn't help it. Sometimes the girl was so dramatic. "Welcome to adulthood, Mija."

"I don't want to be an adult if I have to worry about everybody's feeling," Santana said.

"To bad. Go and get your friends Mija. Dinner is almost ready."

"If I must," Santana grumbled, and then slid off of the stool. She turned back around and half-asked, half-stated, "The spaghetti is vegan, right?"

Anan gave her daughter a surprised look, like she had just been reminded of something important. She gasped, and then said, "Aye dios mio. I completely forgot that the spaghetti we normally get are made with eggs."

"Mama," Santana whined. "How could you forget something like that? Now what is Rachel going to eat?"

Anna tried to hold her laughter in for as long as she could, but the look Santana was giving her was too much. "I'm kidding Mija," she said through laughter.

"That wasn't funny, Mama," Santana said, while giving her mother a full out 'Santana glare'.

"Yes it was," Anna told her. "Now go and get the girls."

"Fine," Santana sighed. She both hated and loved when her mother messed with her like that. She loved that she was so close to her Mama, but she didn't like to be duped.

Santana stopped in the living room's entrance way, and smiled at her best friend, who was curled up with Rachel. She noted that Funny Girl was playing on the TV, and almost felt bad for interrupting.

"Hey guys, dinner's done," She said loudly.

"Yea, food time," Brittany exclaimed, as she bounced off of the love and then out of the room. God she really loves to eat.

"She really loves to eat, doesn't she?" Rachel mused.

"Yeah, next to having sex, it's her favorite thing to do," Santana said nonchalantly. She gave Rachel a mischievous grin and then walked out of the room.

Rachel stared at the spot Santana had just departed from in shock; much to Quinn's amusement.

Quinn leaned over and whispered, "You'll get use to that after awhile."

"If you say so, Quinn," Rachel replied.

"I do. Come on, let's go eat," Quinn said. She linked her arm with Rachel's, and started to pull the smaller girl towards the kitchen.

* * *

><p>After dinner was over, the girls each helped to do the dishes again, before retiring to Santana's bedroom for the night. Brittany had ran ahead of the other three girls, so by the time they got to the room, Brittany had already stripped down to just her panties. She was dancing around the room, signing into the TV remote that was clutched in her hands.<p>

Santana and Quinn didn't pay any mind to the nearly naked blonde, as it wasn't an unusual sight for them to see. Rachel on the other hand wasn't used to seeing nearly naked woman, dancing around a bedroom.

"Oh Barbara," she squeaked, and threw her hands over her eyes.

Santana laughed as she said, "You better put a shirt on B, before you give Rachel a heart attack."

"But S," Brittany whined, but gave Santana a mischievous look. "It's so much fun watching her change colors. Hey maybe she's straddling the rainbow too, and that's why she turns all red."

Quinn and Rachel were baffled by Brittany's comment, but Santana wasn't. She knew exactly what she was implying, and she thought that it was absolutely ridiculous. "B that's crazy. She's a freaking ruler."

"You never know Sanny," Brittany said as she pulled a large shirt over her head. "You used to think you were a ruler, but your not."

'_Damn it_,' Santana thought. Brittany had a point. She knew that if Brittany was saying it, then she probably noticed something in Rachel that she couldn't see. Even still, she thought she was crazy.

Quinn ignored her friends, opting instead to watch Rachel. Even with her hands still covering her eyes, Quinn could see Rachel's confusion. She walking over to her and whispered into her ear. "You can look again. Brittany has a shirt on."

Rachel tentatively peeked out through her finger to make sure Quinn wasn't messing with her. Satisfied that Brittany did indeed have a shirt on, she dropped her arms.

Quinn chuckled to herself and then whispered, "Don't worry, you'll get used to that too.

"Which one? Brittany being nearly naked, or not being able to understand their conversation?" Rachel asked.

"Both," Quinn smirked, and then towards her friends. "Guys, you're messing with the hobbit's head."

Brittany stopped talking mid-sentence, and then turned to them, "Sorry Rach."

"Um... Thanks," Rachel said.

"Whatevs," Santana said loudly, as she walked to her closet. She pulled out a sheet set, two brand new pillows, pillow cases, a thick comforter, and then she grabbed a black draw-string bag. "We're not going to all fit on my bed, so somebody's going to have to sleep on the air mattress," She said, as she opened up the black bag.

"Ooh, I want to Sanny," Brittany said excitedly. "Q can sleep with me, and Rachy can sleep with you.

Santana wasn't thrilled with that idea, but she knew that there was no chance of getting Brittany to change her mind. She threw Rachel, who also wasn't thrilled with the idea, a look that clearly said not to argue.

Rachel understood the look, and just nodded her head slightly. She was just thankful that Santana had a queen size bed.

Once the air mattress was blown up and made, Santana popped 'Funny Girl' into the DVD player and the four girls settled into the beds for the night.

Brittany had shocked Quinn when they crawled into bed, by cuddling into her side. Normally it was Santana who Brittany cuddled with, not her. Even though they had always shared a bed. Quinn had thought that it was because of their 'more then friends' un-official status, but apparently she had been wrong. She never had anybody snuggling with her. It was weird at first, but after she relaxed into Brittany's embrace, she found herself enjoying. So much so, that when Anna came into the room at 9:30 to inform them that they would be leaving at five the next morning, Quinn and Brittany were both fast asleep.

Santana and Rachel were the exact opposite. Both of them were lying stiffly at the edge of the bed. So close in fact that when Anna walked into the room, Santana fell off the edge. After her Mama left, she busted up laughing at how ridiculous they were being. When she crawled back into the bed, she was closer to the center of the bed, and then motioned for Rachel to do the same.

Rachel gave Santana a soft smile as she moved closer to her. She was surprised by how calm the first night of the sleepover was. When she had accepted the invitation, she had expected a long sleepless weekend. In fact this weekend was turning out to be the exact opposite of what she expected. Of course it was only the first night, so how knows what will happen.

For the second time that day, Santana found herself getting lost in her thoughts. Only this time, instead of contemplating her feelings for Rachel, she was contemplating on how to express to Rachel what she was feeling. Well one feeling in particular. She wanted to tell Rachel how sorry she was for all of the crap that she had said and done to her. One would think that it was an easy thing to do. Just say two little words, I'm sorry, but it's not that simple. At least not to Santana.

Santana thought that the word sorry was an empty word. A word thrown around to get people out of trouble. That's why she rarely said the word. She wasn't going to say something that she didn't mean. Sure she had said sorry before. Hell she had even said it to Rachel just the day before, and she had completely meant it at the time. This time had to be different though. She couldn't just say the word to her; she had to express the feeling behind the word. The only question was how to do it?

Does she explain that she did it to protect Brittany and herself from the same cruel fate that Rachel lives through every day? Does she throw in what her Mama had told her? Or does she just wing it? Speak from the heart and all that bull crap.

Santana was brought out of her stupor by a gentle hand shaking her shoulder. She looked at the hand, and then looked up at Rachel's face.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said when Santana's eye connected with hers.

Shock reverberated through Santana's mind. Partly because she realized that she was staring into Rachel's eyes for the very first time, and partly because of what she saw reflecting in those beautiful eyes. Fear. Rachel was afraid of her.

A pang of guilt formed inside of her chest. She knew that the fearful look was entirely her fault. Before she even realized what she saying the words 'I'm sorry' pooped out of her mouth, followed closely by a strangled sob.

Rachel was shocked and confused by Santana's sudden apology and subsequent breakdown. "Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes I did," Santana softly cried. "I saw it in your eyes just now. You are afraid of me, and I did that. I put that fear inside of you. I treated you like shit, for damn reason, and I am so sorry, for all of it."

Seeing Santana crying, made Rachel sad. She decided that she never wanted to see her cry again. "It's okay Santana. I forgive you."

"How can you? I helped make your life hell for years."

"I can forgive you, because I know that you are truly sorry," Rachel said quietly, and then gave Santana a reassuring smile.

Santana weakly returned Rachel's smile, and then hastily wiped away her tears.

Rachel didn't want Santana to be sad anymore, so she decided to change the subject. "I want to ask you something about Brittany."

"Okay," Santana said.

With her voice barely above a whisper, Rachel asked, "I noticed that nobody would let Brittany touch a knife, and I was just wondering why?"

"Oh...um," Santana said. "Ah...well knives and Britts don't really mix. People have a tendency to get hurt when she had one."

"Hurt badly?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Santana said, and the lifted up her shirt. There was enough light illuminating from the bedside lamp that allowed Rachel to see a slim scar on Santana's right side, just below her rib cage. "Britt got a little excided two years ago, and let her knife go. That's where it landed."

"So that's why she'd not allowed to touch knives?" Rachel asked.

"Partly. She also chopped off Lord Tubbington's mother Lady Tubbington's tail off when we were twelve, cut my brothers arm, and cut three of her fingers, with a butter knife no less. Accidentally stabbing me was the last straw for our parents. They banned her from using them after that."

"Brittany is rather...unique," Rachel state hesitantly, hoping that Santana understood the question she was trying to imply.

"She is," Santana replied, even quieter then before. She knew exactly what Rachel wanted to know, and didn't want Brittany to hear. "The only reason I'm telling you this is because I know that she'll want you to know. She made me tell Quinn as well when we invited her to our first sleepover, but you have to promise to keep it a secret."

"Okay. I promise," Rachel said.

"When we were seven, Britt's father was murdered right in front of her," Santana said sadly.

"Oh my god," Rachel gasped, a little louder then she wanted to.

"Shh... I don't want her to hear us," Santana chastened softly. "Your right. It is horrible. The guy who killed her father, also hit her over the head with a baseball bat on his way out. It wasn't hard enough to do a lot of damage, but enough to make her brain go kinda wonky. It doesn't absorb thing the way ours do. There are two things you need to know about Brittany. She is insanely smart, like genius smart. She knows things that nobody else does, and she can read people like an open book. There are a lot of thing she can't figure out on the first try, like locking a door. I've been trying to teach her how to do it for years, and she just can't grasp it. Or sometimes you'll say something to her and she won't understand it, so you'll have to explain it. It's random too. Sometimes she gets it right away, and then other times she'll just be lost. People think she's stupid because of the random things that she says, but that just because she has a unique way of looking at things."

"Like still believing in Santa Clause?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, that's the second thing you need to know about her. She kinda lives in her own world. She believes in the unbelievable, to cope with what she saw that night. She needs that innocence in her life," Santana said. "Quinn understands Brittany more then she lets on, and once you spend more time with her you will too. She's somebody everybody should have in their life."

"This had been very insightful," Rachel said. "I am looking forward to getting to know her."

"Good, because she really wants to be your friend," Santana said.

"I want that too," Rachel replied. "Silence fell between them for a few minutes before Rachel said, "I'm really sorry my dads told your mom."

"It's okay Rachel. In a way I'm glad that they told her," Santana said.

"You're glad that you're in trouble?"

"That part not so much, but because Mama knows about it, she's helped me work through something," Santana said, and then looked at the clock. "It's almost mid-night. I an even bigger bitch if I'm tired."

"Then I guess we should get some sleep," Rachel said, with a soft smile.

A few minutes after they had gotten comfortable, Santana heard Rachel quietly say her name. "Yeah," she asked.

"Thank you for allowing me to come," Rachel replied softly.

Instead of respond with a 'your welcome', she responded with, "Thank you for coming." Within ten minutes, both girls had joined their friends in dreamland.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I just wanted to say that I felt like I need to explain why Brittany acted the way she does. I hope you like my explanation. <strong>

**The next chapter the girls are going to really start their sleepover. I am taking suggestions as to what the girls do during their mini party. You get to decide what you want to read. Just nothing overtly sexual. I want to wait to introduce that into the story. **


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